ManitobaAdvocates say Manitoba is moving too slowly to meet the demand for child-care spaces, after an announcement from the province this week showed it is less than a quarter of the way to meeting its goal for 2026. Province says 5,350 new child-care spaces created or in the works since October 2023Lauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 3:52 PM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Molly McCracken, chair of the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba, says the province is not moving fast enough to meet its child-care expansion promises. (André DeBattista/Radio-Canada)Manitoba is moving too slowly to meet the demand for child-care spaces, advocates say, after an announcement from the province this week showed it is less than a quarter of the way to meeting its goal for 2026. “Manitoba’s pace of expansion is too slow to meet the demand, and the current approach is not working,” Molly McCracken, chair of the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba, said at a news conference at the legislature building in Winnipeg on Wednesday. “Parents are stuck on waitlists for years and years,” said McCracken, who said her own school-age children have been on a waitlist for child care at their school for two years.In a Tuesday news release, the province announced it and the federal government have opened or started building 5,350 new child-care spaces since October 2023, when the current NDP government was elected. That’s just 23 per cent of the 23,000 new $10-per-day spaces that Manitoba promised to create by 2026. CBC News has reached out to the province for more details about the number of child-care spaces announced. Manitoba signed on to Canada’s $10-per-day child-care plan in 2021, which saw the federal government promise to to spend $1.2 billion to fund early learning and child care in Manitoba over five years. The province said it has committed to another 6,041 spaces, which would put the government just under halfway to meeting next year’s goal. “We are at far less than half, and the target is just a year away,” McCracken said. Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt said in a news release that the province has launched a new strategy to recruit and retain child-care workers across the province, which includes a $5,000 incentive for some early childhood educators that have left the field. The province said it has launched a new strategy to recruit and retain child-care workers across the province, which includes a $5,000 incentive for some early childhood educators who have left the field to come back.LISTEN | Survey suggests province falling behind on child-care promises:Information Radio – MB7:38Survey Shows Manitoba Falling Short on Universal Child CareCathy Gardiner, president of the Manitoba Child Care Association, speaks with host Marcy Markusa about new survey findings that show child care in Manitoba is still far from universal. She talks about long wait times, staffing, and what’s needed to improve access.At the legislature on Wednesday, Lynda Raible, past president Manitoba Child Care Association, said the expansion of $10-per-day child care has made care “financially beneficial for families,” but it has also increased demand. “Every family should be able to find child care that meets their needs,” Raible said. At an unrelated event in Winnipeg on Wednesday, Early Childhood Learning Minister Schmidt said there is “much more work to do.” “We know that Manitobans deserve access to affordable, high-quality child care. We are working hard to deliver on those commitments,” Schmidt said.Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt acknowledged there is ‘more work to do’ on child-care spaces, but said the province is working to deliver on its commitments. (Travis Golby/CBC)McCracken said the coalition is calling on the province to develop a funding plan to staff the thousands more spaces needed to meet its 2026. The province must also ensure next year’s budget has enough money to meet its child-care commitments, she said. Advocates would also like to see school divisions have a greater role in creating child care spaces, she said.Without expanded child-care access, McCracken said parents like her will be left “exhausted” as they wait for spaces. ABOUT THE AUTHORLauren Scott is a Winnipeg-based reporter with CBC Manitoba. They hold a master’s degree in computational and data journalism, and have previously worked for the Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press.With files from Bartley Kives
Manitoba’s progress on expanding child-care access ‘too slow to meet the demand,’ advocate says
