Investing in Our Young People

More young people in Manitoba

• Manitoba's population has reached an historic high of 1.2 million in 2008.



• More young people are staying or returning to Manitoba - and more are arriving here from other countries.



• In the eight years from 1999 through July 2007, Manitoba has seen a net gain of more than 12,000 young people. Over the eight years ending in 1999, Manitoba had a net loss of more than 5,000 young people.



• By contrast, in the 1990s more young people moved away from Manitoba than came in every year but one.

More opportunities

• More youth are working in Manitoba today than at any time during the last decade, reversing a disturbing trend that started in the 1990s. In the first eight months of 2008, the youth unemployment rate was 9.0%, fourth lowest in Canada.



• Our total job growth increased 1.6% in the last 12 months - 9,400 jobs - this is above the national average of 1.3%. 8,700 of those jobs are full-time, a 1.8% increase, compared to 1% nationally.



• In the first eight months of 2008, employment increased 11,800 relative to 2007. Full-time employment was up 2.9%.



• Average weekly earnings were up 4.2% in 2007, the 3rd highest increase in Canada and above the national increase of 3.2%. This was the strongest increase in nearly 20 years.



• In 2000, we cut college and university tuition by 10% and froze it at that level, making fees here among the lowest in Canada. As a result, university enrolment has increased by almost one-third. We have the lowest College tuition fees in the country and the third lowest University tuition fees.



• We created the tuition tax rebate, giving all post-secondary students who stay and work in the province after graduation a 60% income-tax credit on their tuition fees.



• We established a new Manitoba bursary program that provides $8 million in grants annually to lower income students.



• We have also passed the Student Aid Act to guarantee financial assistance for qualified students.



• We have established a new graduate scholarship fund that provides $2 million annually to attract and retain the highest quality graduate students from within and outside the province.



• Manitoba has the second-lowest student debt levels in Canada (after remission), behind Quebec and the lowest number of students needing student loans in Canada (03/04 to 05/06). According to the annual report from Manitoba Student Aid, in 2006/07, only 14.4% of Manitoba’s post-secondary education students took out student loans.



• We have supported almost $500 million in capital investment in buildings and equipment at Manitoba universities and colleges, including a new Engineering and IT Complex at the U of M, a new Red River College campus in the Exchange District, renovations to Wesley Hall at U of W, and a new Eastman Education Centre in Steinbach. We are also supporting the initiative to relocate Assiniboine Community College to the historic former Brandon Mental Health Centre, having completed the first phase.



• We have launched the University College of the North (UCN) to provide closer-to-home training for northern Manitobans. In 2006/07, the college delivered university and college programs and courses to over 2,100 full and part-time students. UCN has its main campus in The Pas, a campus in Thompson, and regional centres in Flin Flon, Churchill, Swan River (shared with Assiniboine Community College, Campus Manitoba and Swan Valley School Division), Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville), Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House), Mathias Colomb First Nation (Pukatawagan), Norway House Cree Nation and St. Theresa Point First Nation, along with two new regional centres just announced for Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids) and Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House).



• We’ve introduced cutting-edge programs into our colleges, targeting skills that are in demand in both the private and public sectors. These include aviation maintenance, digital multi-media, medical lab sciences, business information management, technical communications, precision agriculture, and 3-D animation. Red River College reports that 92% of its employed graduates stay in Manitoba.



• As a result of measures such as subsidizing the costs of apprenticeship training for employers, the number of active apprenticeships has shot up by 72% from 1999 through 2008.



• Recognizing the extra financial burden faced by students who live in rural and northern Manitoba, we’ve committed $500,000 in matching grants to community foundations for a new bursary program for rural and northern students wanting to attend college or university.



• Manitoba is developing new, knowledge-based industries such as biotechnology. The province has the fastest-growing life-science sector in Canada, with 40 companies employing 4,000 people at wages averaging $50,000 to $60,000 a year. Manitoba has also become the fastest-growing film centre in Canada, with annual production activity in the $100 million range, and is developing a reputation for video-game creation.



• Our Bridging Generations Initiative has made it easier for young people to take over the family farm when their parents retire.



• In addition to job opportunities and access to affordable education, our young people are looking for exciting and vibrant communities to live in. We are revitalizing our neighbourhoods and our urban centres, through housing, recreation and cultural projects, to make them more attractive to our young people. The new MTS Centre is a perfect example of this. It was the 3rd busiest sports and entertainment centre in Canada last year, and the 27th busiest in the world. Other attractions that the province has supported include the refurbished Millennium Library, an expanded West End Cultural Centre that is still in the works, the redeveloped Keystone Centre, the new skateboard plaza at The Forks (which has been touted as the world’s best), and a revitalized Waterfront Drive.

Figures current as of October, 2008

Adobe Acrobat version.