Starting wage increase for Manitoba early childhood workers announced

Starting wages for early childhood workers will be going up across Manitoba, beginning on July 1.

The provincial and federal governments announced the increase — through $56.1 million in funding from Manitoba — Thursday.

“By investing in early learning and child care, we’re investing in the future of our country,” said federal families minister Karina Gould in a statement.

“This wage enhancement will help attract and retain the best early childhood educators and child-care assistants, who are the cornerstone of the Canada-wide early learning and child-care system.”

The bulk of the funding will go toward operating grants through the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement 2021-2026, to support the wages of staff who care for children under the age of seven.

Additional funding is aimed at ensuring fair compensation for staff working in school-age child-care programs.

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“The success of child-care expansion initiatives in Manitoba, including $10-a-day child care and new child-care spaces, directly relies upon the recruitment and retention of a qualified workforce,” said Manitoba’s education minister, Wayne Ewasko.

“This increase accounts for the existing need to elevate wages in the child-care sector to support the workforce recruitment and retention efforts underway, as well as recognizing forthcoming increases to the minimum wage.”

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