New grants will help Manitoba child-care facilities create room for up to 450 more kids

The federal and provincial governments are setting aside $13.5 million worth of grants to help child-care facilities in Manitoba create as many as 450 more spaces.

The grants are meant to encourage child-care centres to build up and expand the physical space capacity of their existing facilities by providing $30,000 per space up to a maximum of $2 million in capital grant funding per project, the governments announced in a news release on Tuesday.

There are more than 640 licensed non-profit child-care centres in Manitoba that are eligible to apply for this grant.

Centres that apply will be selected based on the number of underserved communities that may benefit from the expansion, child-care demand experienced by the facility and readiness to build.

Approved candidates are expected to start preparing for construction by March 31, 2024, and complete construction no later than 2026.

CBC News has requested a comment from the Manitoba Child Care Association but didn't immediately receive a response.

This round of grants is the second the Manitoba and Canadian governments has recently provided to facilities in the province.

In 2021, $3.4 million in renovation expansion grants helped create 120 new spaces at 14 facilities for kids under age seven, the release says.