Province announces free daycare for low-income families

Eligible parents will have their child-care fees waived come Sept. 13.

The province announced Wednesday child care would be free for about 4,100 children from 3,000 families as part of a budget commitment to eliminate the $2-per-day fee for low-income families.

“This announcement that we’re making here today is going to be hugely, hugely impactful for the families that rely on this important, important service of child care,” Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt said at a news conference at Panda Bear Day Care.

She said the program would save families between $520 and $2,600 per child per year.

Eligibility is based on income, number and age of children, number of days required for care and reason for care. Children aged 12 weeks to 12 years are eligible.

Families who take part in the child-care subsidy program pay for a fixed or non-subsidized portion of their parent fees. Depending on their eligibility, the program provides financial assistance covering part or all of the remaining balance.

Molly McCracken, director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said the organization has called on the government to wipe the fees for years.

“The $2 a day fee for subsidized child care may have sounded small on paper, but for families already living on their low incomes, every single dollar matters,” she said. “Between buying groceries, paying rent, bus fare, gas, and basic necessities, those fees add up, and they create barriers, stress, and sometimes very difficult choices.”

Five years ago, Manitoba signed a deal to receive $1.2 billion in federal funding to reduce licensed daycare costs for children aged six and under between 2021 and 2026.

Ottawa has since pledged $1.77 billion to extend its support through 2031, as well as about $10 million for inclusion-related infrastructure projects over the last four years.

The federal government has contributed $1.8 million to the child-care subsidy program, St. Boniface-St. Vital MP Ginette Lavack said.

Panda Bear Day Care executive director Micheline Fay said the news was great for families, but would surely add to her 1,000-child waitlist. The Windsor Park daycare has a capacity of 80 spots, of which three are fully subsidized by the province.

Fay said she would like to see the subsidies extend beyond low-income families.

“I think if we could subsidize families, or incorporate us along with the schools and make it a global system, I think that would make a huge difference,” she said.

Schmidt echoed prior comments that she will ‘not rest’ until all Manitoba families have access to child care.

“Much accomplished, much more to do,” she said.

On Aug. 13, the province said 1,075 funded child-care spaces opened across Manitoba since late last year to meet the demand, with more on the way.

Fay said she couldn’t expand her building, given the price of real estate and renovations.

“We have to have the money or borrow the money to start that up to begin with, and then get the government grants to get into. It’s just incredibly expensive,” she said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca