Making child care affordable

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This article was published 07/02/2022 (480 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Child care is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. The time for a Canada-wide early learning and child care system is now. Our government has successfully signed agreements with nine provinces and all three territories. 

Last August, we announced an agreement with Manitoba which will ensure that all families in the province have access to high-quality, affordable, and flexible early learning and child care. This means more child-care spaces and more early childhood educators for our province.

Manitoba will receive a total of over $1.2 billion in federal funding over five years to significantly improve early learning and child care for children in the province:

• Ensuring that Manitoba families have access to regulated child care for an average of $10 a day by 2023;

• Increasing the number of child-care spaces in not‐for‐profit centres and homes by 23,000 by 2025-2026, including 1,700 extended hour child care spaces for families requiring child care in the evening and on weekends;

• Increasing the number of child-care workers providing regulated child care by 15% by 2025-26

• Introducing a wage grid to support the attraction and retention of early childhood educators;

• Developing and funding a plan to ensure vulnerable communities have equitable access.

This agreement builds on our prior investments in early learning and child care, including our agreement signed in 2018 with Manitoba for $47 million over three years to create 1,400 new and newly-funded spaces. This new, historic investment will drive economic growth, increase women’s participation in the workforce, and offer every child in Manitoba the best start in life.

Dan Vandal
Saint Boniface-Saint Vital constituency report

Dan Vandal is the Liberal MP for Saint Boniface-Saint Vital.

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