Details have been confirmed of the federal and provincial governments' joint investment in the Kiddie Sunshine Daycare Centre's expansion project. Together, they are providing $4.1 million through the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, covering 60% of the building cost.
The new childcare spaces being developed with this investment are part of the Manitoba government’s commitment to create 23,000 new, regulated not-for-profit child-care spaces for children under age seven across the province by 2026.
A sod turning for the facility, currently under construction, attracted the likes of Premier Heather Stefanson, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko and Borderland MLA Josh Guenter Wednesday afternoon.
Premier Stefanson speaks at Wednesday's event while Minister Ewasko looks on“Our government is taking concrete action to provide affordable, accessible childcare that meets the needs of all Manitobans, including in rural communities,” said Stefanson. “Affordable, accessible childcare helps families make ends meet and makes our communities stronger.”
She added, partnerships are critical to making projects like this happen.
"You can see this community coming together here and how important it is for all sectors of the economy to be able to access that quality childcare. You can see those here from the childcare community here today and how important it is to them."
Covering the remaining 40% of the building cost is commitments from the Town of Altona and Municipality of Rhineland, the Border Land School Division, Altona Community Foundation and numerous local businesses.
“Building on our recent historic announcement of $10-a-day childcare for regular hours of funded and licensed childcare, our government continues to strengthen and grow the early learning and child-care system by investing in capital projects to create more affordable, accessible child-care spaces,” said Ewasko. “We will continue to support initiatives to build capacity in the child-care system to ensure Manitoba families have access to quality childcare in their communities.”
The Altona project was selected after officials examined the socio-economic factors of the communities that submitted expressions of interest.
"Altona definitely was high on the list of growing communities in the province," said Ewasko. "The 98 (added) spaces are going to definitely help, and I know Altona is growing even more than that, but this is a really good first step."
Once the project is complete, the Kiddie Sunshine Centre will offer 135 childcare spaces.
Borderland MLA Josh Guenter says this new facility will address a real need in the community.
"I'm really excited about this being a key component to us continuing to attract healthcare professionals, nurses and doctors to the area. That'll help sustain our local healthcare. There's so many angles to this, and that's one of them."
“Kiddie Sunshine Centre is incredibly proud of the long-standing history we have of providing early childhood education in Altona,” added Nicole Friesen, vice-chair, Kiddie Sunshine Centre. “We are very excited to have such strong support for this project and to continue this journey to expand our services even further in our community.”
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