Manitoba’s Action Plan for fiscal year 2022 to 2023

Note: This action plan has been re-formatted to meet accessibility requirements of Government of Canada webpages.

Introduction

Manitoba’s 2022 to 2023 action plan, under the Canada-Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement, is a single-year extension of the previous action plan, providing investments that align with the principles of the Early Learning and Child Care Multilateral Framework, strengthening affordable, accessible, flexible, high quality and inclusive early learning and child care services.

Manitoba’s action plan for fiscal year 2022 to 2023 builds on the existing pillars and their initiatives contained in the original agreement with investments that are continuing and those that are new, addressing local, regional and system priorities across the province. Aligned with the broader objectives of Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide ELCC Agreement, this single-year Canada-Manitoba ELCC action plan will offer a renewed focus targeted at building up on prior initiatives focused on enhancing and expanding regulated child care spaces, supporting workforce development and growth, delivery of quality child care programming including supporting diversity and inclusion efforts in facilities.

As Manitoba’s action plans under both agreements are developed to be interconnected, together they will further inform Manitoba’s Strategy for an improved early learning and child care system, fostering improvements for the continuum of child care for children ages 0 to 6 and helping to deliver on shared priorities for all children, families and the early learning and child care workforce.

With these coordinated investments, Manitoba will create the foundations necessary to build a stronger, more responsive early learning and child care system providing high-quality, affordable and accessible services for all families, advancing Manitoba’s economic recovery and growth.

Initiatives under the Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement Action Plan of fiscal year 2017 to 2018 to fiscal year 2019 to 2020, as well as the extension agreements in fiscal year 2020 to 2021 and fiscal year 2021 to 2022 have continued to meet or exceed targeted outcomes. Additionally, Manitoba remained flexible and responsive to the challenges faced by the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting stability during a period of uncertainty. Highlights from the aforementioned agreements action plans include:

creation of 706 new affordable child care spaces through capital funding
providing child care expansion spaces for 744 affordable child care spaces
over $6.8M in COVID response grants awarded to stabilize the child care sector during the pandemic, and supporting over 20,000 child care spaces
supporting Manitoba Access Portal to the Science of Early Child Development (SECD) to 17,290 users accessing the living text book
developing 3 self-study professional development modules using the SECD content, to support the training of educators
subsidized tuition for 326 students enrolled in the Introduction to SECD course required for classification as a Child Care Assistant
provided Circle of Security (COS) facilitator training for 125 child care leaders
offered training in the Attachment Based Leadership Model based on the COS approach, supporting Directors and leaders from 12 child care facilities to review and revise policies and business practices using an attachment lens
providing online board governance training to 1,775 board members from 497 unique facilities, and offering additional resources with the launch of 2 additional training modules: How to Run an Effective AGM and How to Run an Effective Board Meeting, and French language translations completed
supporting 3 Child Care Assistant (CCAs) from rural and Northern communities to become classified as ECEs through the Competency Based Assessment program in rural and Northern Manitoba. This initiative will be expanded to include up to 40 participants from fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to fiscal year 2024 to 2025
providing supportive services to 846 children with additional needs; and training 265 staff from 28 unique facilities in Applied Behavioural Analysis approach
provided professional development training to 421 individuals through Fulfilling Potential Workshop series, offered by St.Amant Autism Programs staff (fiscal year 2020 to 2021)
partnered with the Fédération des Parents du Manitoba (FPM) to provide equitable training opportunities that are reflective of community need for Francophone ELCC facilities and staff
providing the Indigenous Programming Grant to support 63 facilities in the implementation of a culturally appropriate Indigenous curriculum from fiscal year 2017 to 2018 to fiscal year 2021 to 2022

Manitoba’s changing child care landscape

Early Learning and Child Care in Manitoba has undergone significant changes in 2022, this has included changes to governance, including regulatory development to support the announced Bill 47: the Early Learning and Child Care Act, and moving from being a program within the Department of Families to amalgamating with Education to form the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning.

Fiscal year 2022 to 2023 action plan initiatives

Manitoba’s Action Plan for fiscal year 2022 to 2023 is a single-year plan, including the continuation of long-term commitments developed under previous years, and also includes some new, innovative, and expanded initiatives.

Financial summary

Table 1. Fiscal year 2022 to 2023 action plan

Note: The table below was modified for accessibility reasons.

Table 1a. Pillar 1: Supporting new and newly funded spaces
Initiatives	Allocations
Operating funding for affordable and accessible spaces	$8,800,000
Renovation expansion grant	$1,000,000
Subtotal	$9,800,000

Table 1b. Pillar 2: Building sector capacity and stability
Initiatives	Allocations
Science of Early Child Development (SECD): Self-study professional development modules ($35K) (New) Intro to SECD for newcomers ($29K) Intro to SECD – additional cohorts ($66K)	$130,000
(New) Nature education curriculum	$2,000,000
Enhanced start-up grant: Province pays $450 Feds pay $550	$339,000
Subtotal	$2,469,000

Table 1c. Pillar 3: Rural and Northern strategy
Initiatives	Allocations
Rural and Northern competency-based assessment program	$200,000

Table 1d. Pillar 4: Diversity and inclusion
Initiatives	Allocations
Dual stream service model – children with additional needs: St.Amant: applied behavioral analysis (ABA) fulfilling potential workshop series child development supports	$7,100,052
(New) Attachment based model of care	$300,000
Francophone programming grant: Francophone training enhancement grant ($100K) (New) Francophone governance pilot ($300K)	$400,000
Indigenous cultural training and programming grant	$400,000
Subtotal	$8,200,052

Table 1e. Pillar 5: General administration
Initiatives	Allocations
General administration IT platform support Minister’s consultation table	$2,008,573

Table 1f. Pillar 5: General administration
Totals	Allocations
Canada full allocation	$20,085,732
Previous year carry forward	$2,591,894
Grand total: Full allocation plus carry forward	$22,677,626

Pillar 1: Supporting new and newly funded child care spaces

Manitoba will continue investing in the creation of new child care spaces by allocating $9.8M to meet community needs, improving access to affordable child care spaces.

Operating grants for affordable, accessible, flexible child care spaces

Since the original Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement, Manitoba developed 706 affordable, accessible, and flexible child care spaces, in addition to subsidizing operating grants for 744 child care spaces. Manitoba will continue to allocate $8.8M toward operating costs for these child care spaces in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, supporting access to up to 1,450 high-quality, affordable, child care spaces.

Renovation expansion grant

Manitoba has committed to developing 23,000 new child care spaces by March 31, 2026, and is taking a multi-pronged capital approach to achieve this target which includes: partnering with municipalities and communities to create new child care spaces by-way of the Ready-to-Move child care centres; new child care spaces in schools undergoing construction or major renovations; and partnerships with other public and private organizations to support the recruitment and retention of employees in sectors experiencing significant labour shortages and those driving economic growth and development.

Building on the Renovation Expansion grant offered in Manitoba’s 2021 to 2022 action plan, $1M will be allocated for existing operators who are able to open new infant or preschool spaces using their current physical space or space for which they own or have access to. Of this $1M, $22K will be provided for each new infant space and $17.5K for each new preschool space developed under this initiative. The target of this initiative in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 is the development of up to 66 new preschool, or 33 infant spaces, or a combination of both, for child ages 0 to 6.

Pillar 2: Building sector capacity and stability

Manitoba is committing $2.5M to supporting program quality and administrative operations of child care facilities in fiscal year 2022 to 2023. Investments will be made to support the continuation of the Science of Early Child Development (SECD), including the education of newcomers through an enhanced Intro to SECD to support new Child Care Assistants; professional development opportunities to support quality education and caregiving practices; and a focus on enhancing access to outdoor learning environments in facilities.

Science of early child development

Through its continued partnership with Red River College Polytech (RRCP), Manitoba will allocate a total of $130K toward building sector capacity and stability through 3 sub-initiatives under the SECD umbrella: $35K allocated for the development of Self-Study Professional Development (SSPD) modules; $29K allocated toward an Enhanced Introduction to SECD designed for newcomers to Canada; and $66K allocated toward increasing cohort sizes in the Introduction to SECD course required for Child Care Assistant (CCA) certification.

Self-study professional development

The SSPD modules are based on the SECD, and designed to introduce core concepts related to early child development. Each interactive, online module focuses on a specific area of child development, exploring current and inspirational foundational science and research related to that concept. This continued partnership will see a commitment of $35K per year, for the development of 5 new modules in fiscal year 2022 to 2023.

Enhanced intro to SECD for newcomers

To support newcomers entering the labour market, Manitoba will provide $29K in funding to RRCP for the development of an enhanced Intro to SECD course for newcomer CCAs. The Intro to SECD course meets provincial regulation that all CCA’s must meet the 40 hour course requirement within 1 year of employment. In collaboration with settlement agencies, RRCP will design a version of the course that incorporates additional language training and increased support to assist the participants as they learn new concepts related to ELCC, and how to incorporate those into a licensed child care program.

Science of early child development – additional cohorts

In Manitoba, completing the Introduction to SECD course is one way for new staff to meet the 40-hour course requirement in the first year of employment for certification as a CCA. Under the 2020 to 2021 Canada-Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the Manitoba government contracted RRCP to increase access to the 40-hour Introduction to SECD course by increasing the number of cohorts offered from 12 to 16, and the number of students per cohort from 24 to 30. Manitoba’s action plan will allocate $66K in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to maintain increased cohort sizes developed previously.

Outdoor learning curriculum

Child care educators in Manitoba continue to emphasize the value of incorporating nature education into the daily curriculum for young children. Providing opportunities to connect with nature offers enhanced learning for children and a deeper understanding of self through exploration and play, while fostering an authentic connection with our land. Child care facilities in Manitoba offer nature based programming in varying capacities, as it is impacted by a range of factors including physical location (rural, urban), availability of a designated outdoor space, and financial resources.

To further develop the outdoor learning curriculum in Manitoba’s child care facilities, a layered approach will see an investment of $2M in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 for selected facilities. Manitoba will partner with leaders in this area to develop and implement a series of workshops to promote a deeper understanding of the benefits of nature-based education, and how to foster play, learning, and exploration in an outdoor environment. Following the workshop series, grant funding will be available for expenses to promote on-site outdoor curriculum, such as natural play space design and development, materials and additional training, as well as investments to support off-site outdoor learning experiences. Future action plans under the Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement will see significantly increased funding for this initiative.

Enhanced start-up grant

Under the Child Care Regulations, Manitoba provides all newly opened spaces with start-up grant funding of $450 per space at licensed centres $245 for nursery school spaces, and $300 per space to all home-based providers. The start-up grant is intended to support operators to open new spaces by providing funding for the purchase of equipment and furniture for the children enrolled in the program. The amount of these grants has not been increased, despite increased costs of inflation over the years and the current funding levels permits the purchase of minimal equipment to support newly opened spaces.

Under Manitoba’s 2022 to 2023 action plan, the province will allocate up to $339K toward an enhanced start-up grant providing a “top-up” of $550 per space in addition to the base provincial amount. This will enable facilities to purchase equipment, furniture and resources that will support age-appropriate high quality programming.

Pillar 3: Rural and Northern strategy

Manitoba’s rural and Northern strategy continues to build on the success of the previous action plan: The Rural and Northern Competency Based Assessment Program. The Rural and Northern Competency Based Assessment Program was implemented in the fiscal year 2018 to 2019 of the Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement, but was placed on hold during the fiscal year 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic. Despite setbacks, the program managed to graduate 6 participants with their ECE level 2 classification by the end of the fiscal year 2020 to 2021.

Rural and Northern competency-based assessment program

The Competency-based Assessment (CBA) Program continues to be an effective option to obtain Early Childhood Educator (ECE level 2) classification in rural and Northern Manitoba, by recognizing the participants’ education and experience in a licensed ELCC program. Due to significant demand for the program, Manitoba is committed to continuing the initiative, with a focus on increasing the number of CBA advisors in rural and Northern Manitoba, along with increased salaries that align with recent wage increases in the province.

Child care facilities in rural and Northern communities continue to face higher staff turnover and limited options to obtain their ECE level 2 classification. Under this action plan, Manitoba is committed to investing $200K in its Rural and Northern strategy that will see improved program quality through the addition of newly classified ECE’s through the rural and Northern Competency Based Assessment Program.

CBA Advisors are leaders in the child care community, who were selected through an expression of interest process. They are an integral part of this initiative, providing the evaluative component to ensure that the learning demonstrated by participants is consistent with the high standard expected of ECEs. The investment in this initiative will see an increase to the number of contract Advisors, as well as an increase to their hourly wage, aligning with Manitoba’s Wage Grid which came into effect on July 1, 2022. The total commitment for this initiative in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 will be $200K for up to 10 advisors to support more than 50 participants in the CBA program.

Pillar 4: Diversity and inclusion

The diversity and inclusion principles are woven throughout the initiatives in Manitoba’s action plan, however specific investments under this pillar focus on supports targeted to the unique needs of Manitoba’s children. These initiatives will assist children with additional support needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and emotional and behavioural needs. Additionally, funding commitments will serve to strengthen a child’s sense of self through cultural belonging through Indigenous and Francophone cultural programming.

Dual stream service model – children with additional needs

$7.1M will be allocated to continue supporting the Dual stream service model to provide funding to address the distinct needs of children with disabilities and autism to enhance inclusion and diversity in ELCC services.

Since the original action plan from fiscal year 2017 to 2018 through fiscal year 2020 to 2021, a total of 846 unique children with additional support needs were provided with federal funding to provide equipment, room modifications, specialized training and enhanced staffing, necessary for the inclusion of children with disabilities or autism in child care programming.

Applied behaviour analysis (ABA)

Manitoba is continuing its partnership with St.Amant Centre, a non-profit organization that offers a wide range of supportive services for Manitobans with developmental disabilities and autism. St.Amant Centre continues to provide the “Fulfilling Potential” workshop series to child care facilities, free of charge, to support their understanding of an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) based approach, and how it supports children living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Original targets were 100 participants per year, however participation experienced significant growth since transitioning to an online delivery. In fiscal year 2021 to 2022, a total of 712 registrants participated in the series of 7 online workshops. St.Amant Centre will continue offering the series of 7 workshops.

Child development supports

Licensed child care facilities in Manitoba are eligible to receive supports from Child Development Workers (CDWs), by contacting their licensing child care coordinator. This consultative service launched in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 with CDWs offering brief intervention services to support child care facilities with aspects of their curriculum such as enhancing interactions and programming guidance, through observations and feedback, resources, and professional development.

Attachment based model of care

The Attachment Based Care Model was originally introduced under the 2017 to 2018 to 2019 to 2020 action plan as a Circle of Security (COS) Initiative. COS is an attachment-based model, which focuses on the relationship between the child and the caregiver, helping the caregiver understand that addressing a child’s challenging behaviours begins with understanding and meeting their emotional needs. The investment has seen 125 leaders in the child care community complete the COS facilitator training, many of which have gone on to facilitate COS in their own child care facility as well as others in the community.

This initiative has since evolved to include the Attachment Based Leadership Project in fiscal year 2021 to 2022, which guided leaders from 12 child care centres through the process of updating policies and practices to reflect attachment and relationship.

To support the growth and stability of this initiative, $300K will be allocated under this agreement to partner with a community organization currently leading training on attachment and trauma informed practices, for the purpose of leading the development and implementation of the Attachment Based Care Model. Supporting this model across the sector will continue to include COS facilitator training and ongoing support; facilitation of COS groups; professional development to support the understanding of trauma; mentoring for leaders in Attachment Based Leadership Model; and networking through regular Community of Practice sessions.

Francophone programming grant

Developed under the original Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement as the Francophone Training Enhancement Grant, this initiative was placed on hold during the pandemic, and later reinstated in Manitoba’s 2021 to 2022 extension agreement. The initiative will evolve in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to include the development of a social enterprise with the Francophone Governance Model, and an increase in total funding from $100K in fiscal year 2021 to 2022 to $400K in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to support the Francophone ELCC community.

Francophone training enhancement grant

In the fiscal year 2021 to 2022, funding for the Francophone Training Enhancement Grant increased from $50K to $100K. Funding provided to the Fédération des Parents du Manitoba (FPM), supported the home-based pathway initiative Parcours d'ouverture d'une garderie familiale – Journey to Open a Family Daycare. This initiative supports potential home-based providers with the licensing process; professional development for frontline staff; partial funding to attend the Director’s Conference and the development of online modules to support the implementation of their curriculum "Un brin plus loin". Under this agreement, the Manitoba government will maintain funding at $100K to continue supporting this initiative through the FPM.

Francophone governance / social enterprise model

Continuing the partnership with FPM, Manitoba will provide $300K in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to support the development and implementation of the social enterprise model designed to support all Francophone facilities in Manitoba. Beginning in fiscal year 2021 to 2022 $50K was allocated towards a salaried professional position to support the design and implementation of the Francophone governance/social enterprise model. This will include growing a team of professionals available to provide resources to facilities in the areas of accounting and human resources, with the capacity to assume full responsibility for up to 9 Francophone facilities by fiscal year 2024 to 2025. Under this model, the team will continue to provide professional development for Francophone providers, centre Directors, and potential home-based providers.

Indigenous cultural training and programming grant

Building on the success of the Indigenous Programming Grant in previous years, Manitoba continues to support the Indigenous cultural programming, in response to Call to Action #12 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Under this agreement, Manitoba will allocate $400K to support the inclusion of Indigenous Cultural Training, with a focus on trauma and resilience, in collaboration with Indigenous elders and educators.

Pillar 5: Public reporting and community engagement

General administration

The Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement allows for a maximum of 10% to be allocated toward administrative costs to implement action plan initiatives, including items related to community engagement, and information technology (IT) support. Federal investments will help to enhance Manitoba’s IT systems and staffing to help meet the progress tracking and public reporting commitments of the Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement, and the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide ELCC Agreement.

Minister’s consultation table

The Minister’s consultation table (MCT) was established under the fiscal year 2017 to 2018 to fiscal year 2019 to 2020 Canada-Manitoba ELCC Agreement to offer ongoing consultation on the bilateral agreement action plan with a membership that represents a wide range of provincial stakeholders including ECEs such as facility directors and operators, advocates, educators, parents, and Early Childhood Educators, from a cross section of cultural backgrounds including Francophone and Indigenous communities. In fiscal year 2021 to 2022, the focus of the MCT expanded to include the modernization of Manitoba’s child care system, and the Bilateral Sub-Committee was introduced to provide feedback to the Minister on matters related to the regulated child care sector and the federal ELCC agreements’ action plans.