School-Based Child Care Centre Expansion Project

Manitoba’s Action Plan under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement provides capital funding for the development and expansion of child care centres to increase access to licensed child care.

Under the agreement, Manitoba is targeting the development of 23,000 new full time child care spaces by March 31, 2026, with dedicated capital grant funding to support the creation of 5,890 new child care spaces through capital projects.

The School-Based Child Care Expansion Project enables public schools to develop or expand on-site child care programming. In March, 2023, Manitoba issued an Expression of Interest to public school divisions to develop new child care spaces (infant, pre-school, school-age) located on school property, on surplus land or in surplus building space. The School-Based Child Care Expansion builds on the success of Manitoba’s Child Care in Schools Policy, whereby all new schools have a purpose-built child care centre included in the design. Co-locating child care on school property supports the families whose children are enrolled in that school, and it allows for new centre development in urban cities where land may not be as available as in rural regions.

In July, 2023, with funding provided under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care, Manitoba announced the allocation of $132 million across 36 public schools to create more than 2,400 spaces for children under seven. Project details and timelines will be confirmed later 2023, with all projects expected to be completed by March 31, 2026.

Public Schools Approved for Child Care Space Expansion:

* Public school location to be confirmed with school division