Latest news with #ManitobaChildCareAssociation
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Manitoba early childhood educators to see pay boost thanks to federal, provincial funding
Early childhood educators in Manitoba will see a big boost on their paycheques thanks to new money from both the provincial and federal governments. Manitoba's education minister, Tracy Schmidt, announced an expansion of the wage scale for early childhood educators, with some seeing as much as a $5-an-hour increase. Schmidt said Friday that the province understands the value of childcare to Manitobans. 'Whether it's here in Winnipeg, in rural Manitoba, in Northern Manitoba… our government is investing in the child care Manitoba families rely on,' Schmidt said. 'Investing in wages is essential to our recruitment and retention strategy, as we continue to expand and build new child care facilities right across our great province. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Early childhood educators are the foundation of a humming and productive economy. Because of their work, parents across Manitoba can go to school or build careers that power our province.' Story continues below advertisement The province and feds are also pledging more than $60 million in funding to help licensed child care facilities cover the costs of the wage increase. Jodie Kehl, executive director of the Manitoba Child Care Association, says it's a move that is a long time coming. 'ECEs, we know, are an essential foundation which will develop a high-quality and sustainable system for Manitoba children and families,' Kehl said. 'A competitively and fairly-compensated early learning and child care workforce will both stabilize and support our current sector and will position Manitoba to create further expansion in new spaces.'
Winnipeg Free Press
23-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Big raise for early childhood educators
Early childhood educators are getting raises of up to $5 more per hour. The Manitoba and Canadian governments announced a new wage grid for the local early learning and child-care sector sector Friday. The grid sets recommended target wages for various positions, including front-line ECEs. The changes are retroactive to April 1. 'Child-care professionals are at the heart of providing exceptional care to our children and need to be paid accordingly,' Tracy Schmidt, minister of education and early childhood learning, said in a news release. Schmidt was flanked by Winnipeg West MP Doug Eyolfson to deliver the news to child-care providers firsthand at the Manitoba Child Care Association's annual conference. The duo was joined by the association's executive director, Jodie Kehl, at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg. The association's two-day conference — The Brilliance of Play: Adventure Awaits — ends Friday. The provincial and federal governments are also topping up funding to licensed and funded child-care facilities through its wage grid operating supplement to support the increase. Ottawa is providing $56.2 million for the initiative, while Manitoba is earmarking $4.2 million. The province is also increasing base operating grants for a total of $4.6 million for all licensed facilities. Schmidt said the province is working on a workforce recruitment and retention strategy for the sector. It will be released in 'the coming months,' she said. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
