Manitoba offers incentives for trained child care staff.

WINNIPEG -- Having signed Canada's first federal-provincial child care agreement, Manitoba promises to spend all of the $176 million federal allocation on child care and early childhood education in the next five years.

Family Services and Housing Minister Christine Melnick announced the first stage of Manitoba's action plan which includes increased wages and training and education incentives, improved quality, affordability and accessibility of child care.

Main features of the plan include an additional $11.5 million to increase wages and benefits for early childhood educators, including those who care for children with disabilities, to ensure annual salaries of approximately $27,000 to $30,000. Income levels for family child-care providers will also be improved.

Funding to recruit and train more early childhood educators will be increased this year by $2.9 million, including:

* an additional $1.4 million over two years for early childhood education students at Red River College, University College of the North and Assiniboine Community College as part of the two-year, Early Childhood Education program.

* support for College universitaire de St. Boniface for the training of francophone workers;

To increase the number of staff for ECE and child care:

* $750,000 more for a recruitment fund to attract qualified staff back to the field of child care;

* $581,300 for substitute workers to temporarily take the place of regular staff attending workplace training; and

* an additional $200,000 for a tuition support program for students in early childhood education.

On April 29, Manitoba and Canada signed an agreement called Moving Forward on Early Learning and Child Care, the first of its kind in Canada. The total budget for the Manitoba Child Care program, including the Children with Disabilities program, is now $103 million. In the next five years, Manitoba's share of the federal government's support is estimated to be $176 million. Manitoba is committed to spending all new federal funds on child care.

Manitoba's five-year plan advances three major priorities: maintaining and improving quality, improving accessibility, and improving affordability.

In addition to collaborating with the federal government, Manitoba will continue to work with all key stakeholders and consult with Manitobans in building a high-quality early learning and child-care system that is available to all families who need it.