Starting wage increase for Manitoba early childhood workers announced – Winnipeg

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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