For Manitoba families

Child care

Family Choices, our new five-year, 12-point child care agenda

• The new five-year agenda will increase the child care budget by 84% or $92 million



• 6,500 more funded child care spaces—a 28% increase



• A new centralized wait list system to give families straightforward help in looking for child care. This system will be up and running in 2010.



• A new $37 million building fund for up to 35 more child care centres and the conversion of surplus school space into child care centres



• Nursery school for 1,300 more children—a 33% increase



• Age-appropriate curriculum in every child care centre



• A 20% overall funding increase for pension plans and wage increases



• Canada’s first Child Care Safety Charter



• Lowest fees outside Quebec through regulated maximum fees, and ensuring predictable costs for families

We fulfilled the commitment made in the Five-year Child Care agenda announced in 2002

• We exceeded the commitment of 5,000 newly funded spaces. We have funded a total of 7,160 new spaces since 1999.



• We introduced a $5 million capital program for the expansion and construction of child-care facilities.



• We reduced the child-care fees for low income families. Manitoba has the second lowest child care fees in the country.



• We trained 700 child care workers, including 252 who graduated in 2007.

How does our child care compare?

Even before our historic child care announcement, the University of Toronto’s Child Care Resource and Research Unit said Manitoba had one of the best child care programs in Canada.

Spending per child: Manitoba spends the second most per child in Canada. Quebec is the only province ahead of us.

Access: Manitoba ranks third for the number of regulated child care spaces for Manitoba children. Quebec and P.E.I are the only provinces ahead of us.

Affordability: Manitoba and Quebec are the only provinces in Canada to limit fees, keeping child care affordable for parents.

Quality: Manitoba’s training requirements for early childhood educators (ECE) are among the highest in Canada. Manitoba is the only province that requires directors to have further credentials in addition to a 2 year ECE diploma.

Wages: Manitoba has the third highest wages in Canada. Ontario and Quebec are higher.

Not-for-profit: Manitoba has the 2nd highest proportion of non-profit centres (94%) following Saskatchewan.

Healthy Child

The NDP government established Healthy Child Manitoba, a series of initiatives designed to support families and children. The Health Council of Canada singled out Healthy Child Manitoba as an innovative and exceptional program that should be replicated across the country. (You can read the council’s report or watch its video on Manitoba’s program, “Their Future Is Now” at www.healthcouncil.ca )

• We have worked with communities to develop 26 Parent-Child Centered Coalitions across the province. These centres provide parenting, nutrition and literacy resources for parents and children.



• Our Positive Parenting Program provides advice, information, and supports for parents.



• We struck the all-party Healthy Kids/Healthy Futures task force. After touring the province to hear what Manitobans want, the task force made its recommendations to our government, all of which have been acted on.



• We instituted compulsory phys-ed in all grades in schools.



• All school divisions have now banned smoking on school property.



• We have already launched the Protect Your Noggin’ bike helmet campaign, including subsidized and free helmets to kids, required schools to develop nutrition plans, and initiated Manitoba’s In Motion physical activity program.



• We’ve developed a co-ordinated Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder strategy for expanding our existing multi-department, multi-million-dollar disability prevention activities and improving service supports available for people with FASD from birth through adulthood.

Healthy Baby

• Our Healthy Baby program provides a nutrition allowance to all pregnant women on low incomes to help ensure that their babies get a healthy start in life. Healthy Baby also offers informal prenatal and postnatal training in wellness and nutrition.

Recreation Opportunities

• Since 2000, the Community Places program has provided $11.4 million in funding to recreation facilities such as arenas, community halls, swimming pools, parks and playgrounds.



• We created the Lighthouses program, which funds evening programs at schools and gyms, offering young people safe places to play and study. There are now 47 Lighthouses across the province, and more on the way.



• We’ve invested $11.5 million so far in building trails across the province.



• We’ve added or upgraded more than 600 campsites since 2004.

Moving Forward

• We will be launching First Sports, a new program to provide community centres throughout the province with funds for sports equipment and gear.



• We’re doubling our investment in recreation centres, community clubs and soccer fields to $60 million over four years. This includes funds for a new rec centre in Southdale.



• We’re committing $1.8 million over three years to helping the Winnipeg Trails Association develop 32 kilometres of trails across Winnipeg.



• Another $2 million will be added to the annual capital budget for park and campground improvements - $500,000 will be invested in modernizing campgrounds at Asessippi Provincial Park. Another 1,000 cottage lots will be made available.

A Sound Education

• Following through on our commitment to fund education at the rate of economic growth, our government has invested an additional $238 million in our public schools system - a 31% increase since 1999.



• In our first nine years in government we have invested $483 million in school buildings, renovations, expansions and other infrastructure projects, more than double what was spent in the last eight years of the previous government.



• According to the last Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results (2007), when compared to other provinces in Canada, Manitoba ranked 4th in science, 5th in math and 5th in reading. Canada ranks within the top four countries in the world, and Manitoba students continually rank in the top five among Canadian provinces. Manitoba ranks ahead of other countries such as Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. The United States on average ranks outside the top 30.



• High school graduation rates have risen steadily and the number of adult learners graduating has doubled.



• We recently passed the Strengthening Local Schools Act - which will help to ensure that, where possible, schools are kept open in the face of declining enrolment.

Moving Forward

• Our government will create up to 16 new libraries, and modernize book collections and computer technology at existing libraries. This will ensure that 95% of Manitobans have access to libraries, up from the current 83%.



• In addition to funding for adult literacy programs, the provincial government supports literacy development through a Reading for Life early literacy program for families to encourage parent-infant bonding and child development. Rural and northern libraries are also benefiting from the province’s new library technology fund and successful new library pilot projects are being continued on First Nations reserves.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Adobe Acrobat version.