Manitoba Government News Release–Health-care facilities, schools and post-secondary institutions across the province will soon open new high-quality and flexible child-care spaces for children up to six years old thanks to a partnership between the governments of Canada and Manitoba, federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Sudds and Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt announced today.
“Child care is a vital support for parents, families and communities, and that’s why we need to meet parents and children where they are,” said Sudds. “We’ll continue to work with Manitoba to find new innovative solutions to creating more affordable child-care spaces, to reduce waitlists and to grow the early childhood workforce, to fit parents needs, where and when they need it the most.”
“We’re investing in child-care spaces to meet parents and caregivers where they’re at to make life easier for families,” said Schmidt. “Our government continues to build the child-care system as a whole – creating spaces that meet the needs of families, offering programming to attract and support child-care professionals and investing in learning outcomes for a quality early education experience.”
In February 2025, the governments of Manitoba and Canada signed the action plan under the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, detailing how Manitoba will invest $20.9 million in federal funding over three years to support the creation of approximately 324 child-care spaces in health-care facilities across the province.
“Investing in child-care spaces that will offer hours outside the traditional child-care hours in hospitals ensures that health-care staff and families in surrounding communities have improved access to child care – which will have a significant ripple effect,” said Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “Bolstering our child-care system helps parents working in the health-care sector return to work and pick up extra shifts because they have child care that works for their families. These spaces are another tool that supports the recruitment and retention of new health-care providers, having a direct impact on the health-care system and improving the quality of life for all Manitobans.”
Through the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, 256 new child-care spaces will open in six schools, in addition to the 36 new school-based facilities, building additions and renovations previously announced, for a total of over 2,600 new infant and preschool spaces in partnership with 19 school divisions across all regions of Manitoba.
In addition, through the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the governments of Canada and Manitoba are funding 128 new child-care spaces at Red River College Polytechnic and University College of the North’s Thompson campus. These spaces are in addition to those previously announced at nine other post-secondary campuses across the province, for a combined total of over 800 new spaces at Manitoba post-secondary institutions and a total investment of $60.5 million.
“Accessing child care can often be a barrier for Manitobans wanting to grow their skills through post-secondary education,” said Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable. “Making more child-care options available to post-secondary students increases access to higher education for more Manitobans, which in turn strengthens our workforce and our economy.”
The governments of Canada and Manitoba are also investing in professional training and curriculum:
- The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) is receiving funding to continue its programming that educates and helps employ up to 50 Ukrainian newcomers.
- The Urban Circle Training Centre is receiving funding to support programming to train 30 Indigenous students to work in the child-care profession.
- The Outdoor Early Childhood Education Grant is providing funding to child-care facilities to enhance current outdoor and land-based programming or create new nature education programming. Grants are available for licensed non-profit centres and nursery schools of up to $25,000 and licensed home-based providers of up to $2,500.
- The Tuition Reimbursement is available to all Manitoba students and offers up to $5,000 per school year to help cover out-of-pocket tuition-related costs at recognized early childhood education programs offered at post-secondary institutions in Manitoba. Since 2022, the program has provided over $6.1 million in tuition reimbursement and since this January, the program has supported over 510 early childhood education students.
To date, in partnership with the government of Canada, the province has opened more than 4,300 child-care spaces for children ages zero to six.
For more information on the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, visit https://manitoba.ca/education/childcare/actionplan.html and https://canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories/manitoba-canada-wide-2021.html.
For more information about Manitoba child-care capital and space expansion projects, visit: https://manitoba.ca/education/childcare/resources/spacecreation.html