As a part of the Manitoba authorities’s ongoing dedication to offer inexpensive and accessible child-care providers for Manitoba households, the province is investing an extra $600,000 within the growth of the child-care centre on the Younger Males’s Christian Affiliation (YMCA) of Brandon’s Y Downtown Early Studying Centre, Premier Heather Stefanson and Schooling and Early Childhood Studying Minister Wayne Ewasko introduced right here in the present day.
“Our authorities continues to be a nationwide chief in offering inexpensive child-care providers, which is essential to making sure Manitobans can take part within the workforce, assist their household and play an lively function within the development of our communities and economic system,” mentioned Stefanson. “This growth undertaking will double the variety of areas on the Y Downtown and guarantee households within the Brandon space have entry to high-quality baby care of their group.”
In July 2022, the Manitoba authorities introduced $600,000 for the undertaking by way of the Early Studying and Baby Care Constructing Fund, which gives recipients with capital grant funding for child-care centre improvement initiatives, the premier famous, including this funding doubles that dedication and brings whole authorities funding within the undertaking to $1.2 million.
Not too long ago, the Manitoba authorities elevated the contribution beneath the constructing fund to 60 per cent from 40 per cent of whole eligible undertaking building prices supporting its dedication to create 23,000 child-care areas by 2025-26. Below annual provincial funding, eligible capital initiatives will obtain capital funding as much as a most of $1.2 million.
“This transformation will allow extra areas to be developed and enhance entry to licensed early studying and child-care packages for all youngsters, no matter the place they dwell,” mentioned Ewasko. “Working with our federal and sector companions, we stay dedicated to strengthening the system and guaranteeing inexpensive, accessible baby care is on the market for Manitoba households.”
The Y Downtown’s child-care capability will double to 96 from 48 areas as soon as the undertaking is full, creating 12 new toddler areas and 36 preschool areas, serving to extra households in want of child-care providers.
The growth of the Y Downtown’s child-care facility is an element of a bigger undertaking underway on the YMCA of Brandon. Along with rising accessibility to child-care areas, the undertaking options initiatives that can improve group providers, particularly for youth, seniors and households. These initiatives embrace rising area for supportive programming and creating two outside play areas. The centre growth is predicted to open in November 2023, the premier famous.
“The YMCA of Brandon appreciates the continued funding by the Manitoba authorities to deal with the numerous want for child-care areas in Brandon and all through Manitoba,” mentioned Lon Cullen, chief govt officer, YMCA of Brandon. “Each further area signifies that extra households may have entry to high quality care. With the opening of Y Downtown within the fall, mother and father from over 40 households will be capable to work, contributing to the economic system of our area, figuring out their youngsters might be properly cared for.”
Whereas the Y Brandon undertaking is funded by the province, the Manitoba authorities has partnered with the federal authorities to put money into a variety of important investments in baby care as a part of the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Broad Early Studying and Baby Care Settlement and the prolonged Canada-Manitoba Early Studying and Baby Care Settlement, each launched in 2022.
Baby-care investments beneath this partnership embrace:
- nearly $37 million to assist wage fairness for early studying and child-care workers;
- $6.6 million to assist recruit and retain workers by offering a one-time retroactive wage complement for the lowest-paid child-care assistants and early childhood educators;
- greater than $1 million for a child-care pilot undertaking in Winnipeg that can assist newcomers discover dependable baby care and keep employment;
- greater than $4 million to reimburse tuition of early childhood educator college students by as much as $5,000 per faculty 12 months;
- greater than $1 million to assist a community-based capital undertaking to create 40 new child-care areas at a brand new centre in Oakville; and
- as much as $70 million in capital funding for brand spanking new child-care amenities, creating greater than 1,200 new, regulated non-profit child-care areas with a concentrate on rural and First Nations communities.
To be taught extra concerning the Early Studying and Baby Care Constructing Fund at: https://gov.mb.ca/training/childcare/assets/building_fund.html.
For extra data on early studying and baby care in Manitoba, go to: https://gov.mb.ca/training/childcare/.