The governments of Canada and Manitoba are making significant progress creating new child-care spaces for families, with 1,075 new infant, preschool, nursery and school-aged spaces opening in Manitoba since late 2025, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt and Terry Duguid, member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, on behalf of federal Secretary of State for Children and Youth Anna Gainey, announced.
“Every new child-care space means more families can go to work, go to school or pursue opportunities knowing their children are in a safe, nurturing environment,” said Schmidt. “These new spaces, and the ones on the way, highlight the steady progress we’re making on expanding and strengthening the child-care system so families can find affordable, high-quality care in their communities.”
The governments of Canada and Manitoba provided capital funding for three new or expanded child-care centres that have opened in Winnipeg, as well as start-up and operating funding for expansions in an additional 88 since late 2025, which created 728 new spaces. The Manitoba government also created 347 new school-aged spaces, the minister noted.
“Access to affordable child care is making a real difference for Manitoba families,” said Duguid. “In partnership with the Manitoba government, we are creating new high-quality child-care spaces, helping parents get off wait lists and giving children the best start in life.”
Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre in Winnipeg opened its sixth facility in early 2026, offering 48 new spaces for a total of 359 spaces, including 16 infant spaces, 158 preschool spaces and 185 school-aged spaces, for families in the Chalmers area.
“For more than 50 years, Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre has been serving families in the Elmwood and East Kildonan community,” said Silvana Passante-Cantafio, executive director, Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre Inc. “We’ve long dreamed of expanding our services to provide the much-needed care that families with infants so urgently need. Thanks to our most recent renovation and expansion, we are now welcoming infants and preschoolers to Munroe on Thames. With 16 new infant and 32 new preschool spaces, we have created opportunities for 48 children and their families. We are still pinching ourselves to make sure this is real.”
Since October 2023, the governments of Canada and Manitoba have opened more than 3,700 new licensed and funded child-care spaces for infant, nursery and preschool-aged children across the province, with more than 6,250 in the planning and development phases, for a total of more than 10,000 new spaces for children ages zero to six.
The Manitoba government has also opened nearly 1,800 new school-age spaces since October 2023, with more than 900 more on the way.
“In total, our government has opened or committed to more than 12,700 new child-care spaces for kids 12 and under since fall 2023,” said Schmidt. “We’ve also made significant investments in early childhood educator wages. We will continue to build the child-care system up so that Manitoba families can find quality, affordable child care close to home.”
Funding for these initiatives and the new child-care spaces is jointly supported through provincial and federal investments under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
For more information on the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, visit https://manitoba.ca/education/childcare/actionplan.html and https://canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories/manitoba-canada-wide-2021.html.
For more information about Manitoba child-care capital and space expansion projects, visit: https://manitoba.ca/education/childcare/resources/spacecreation.html.

The Manitoba government is launching an independent external review of the provincial Child and Family Services (CFS) funding and governance model to help strengthen the system, improve transparency and support better outcomes for children, youth and families, Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine announced.
“This review is about building a stronger system that helps keep children safe and supported while ensuring families, communities, and nations have the resources they need to care for their children,” said Fontaine. “Since the introduction of the Single Envelope Funding model, there have been dramatic changes to the child welfare landscape. This review responds directly to calls from Indigenous leadership and rights holders for greater transparency within the provincial system now and as they work to reclaim jurisdiction over child welfare.”
The current model was introduced in 2019, under the previous government, despite concerns raised by Indigenous leadership and rights holders and has never undergone a comprehensive review, the minister added. Since 2023, the Manitoba government has increased funding to the CFS system each year to respond to pressures identified by agencies and authorities, with more than $77 million in additional annualized funding across the CFS system.
As the child welfare system continues to evolve, the minister noted the CFS funding and governance model must support Indigenous-led care and the exercise of Indigenous jurisdiction over the well-being of children and families. A review will provide a clearer understanding of the needs and challenges within the current funding and governance model, while identifying what changes may be needed to better support children, families, caregivers and communities.
Under the current CFS governance structure, the Manitoba government provides overall policy direction and funding, while the four CFS authorities oversee and manage funding for their mandated agencies.
The Manitoba government will engage an external consulting firm selected through a competitive procurement process to undertake a review focused on:
•assessing funding supports and pressures within Manitoba’s CFS system;
•examining financial management and oversight practices throughout the system;
•reviewing governance structures as they relate to funding and accountability; and
•identifying funding and governance opportunities to support the return of Indigenous jurisdiction over child welfare.
Indigenous leaders and child welfare partners have called for a review of the model, and the minister noted that partnership will be an important part of the review process. CFS authorities, agencies and system partners, along with Indigenous leadership and rights holders, will participate in the review and contribute their perspectives and expertise.
The review is expected to begin later this year and take approximately a year to complete, the minister noted.

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