Governments of Canada and Manitoba Raise Early Childhood Educator Wages

Press Release

April 27, 2026

The governments of Canada and Manitoba continue to support early childhood educators (ECEs) by increasing wages and operating funding for child-care facilities, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt and federal Secretary of State for Children and Youth Anna Gainey announced today.

“The Manitoba government is delivering more high-quality child care for families across the province for children up to age 12,” said Schmidt. “To support new spaces, we’re staffing up, with nearly 1,200 more ECEs working in the sector, supported by higher wages and good jobs so we can keep growing our child-care system.”

The wage grid is a key pillar of Higher Wages, Good Jobs, More Child Care – Manitoba’s Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Strategy. This wage grid increase builds on previous rounds of wage enhancements aimed at addressing longstanding compensation gaps in the early learning and child-care sector, the minister noted. The base operating increase provides facilities with additional resources to support day-to-day operations alongside staff compensation.

The wage increase applies to ECEs, child-care assistants (CCAs) and home-based providers working in licensed and funded child-care facilities and homes. With Manitoba’s largest historic wage increase last spring, the minister added that ECEs could see a wage increase of up to $7.00 an hour retroactive to April 2024, depending on their certification level and the size of the child-care facility.

The new wage grid came into effect on April 1.

“Today’s announcement reinforces the commitment from the governments of Canada and Manitoba to supporting ECEs,” said Jodie Kehl, executive director, the Manitoba Child Care Association. “Fair and competitive compensation is essential to stabilizing the workforce, strengthening retention and sustaining high-quality early learning and child care. These investments also position Manitoba to expand child-care spaces and improve access for families.”

To support ECEs, CCAs and home-based provider wages, a two per cent wage grid funding increase will be provided to licensed and funded child-care facilities, totalling $14.3 million). Base operating grants will also increase by one per cent for an increase of $4.7 million in operating funding for all licensed and provincially funded early learning and child-care facilities.

More than $14 million is also being invested to extend and sustain early learning and child-care training programs at five publicly funded post-secondary institutions over the next two years.

“Manitoba’s early learning and child-care workforce continues to grow, but more trained educators are needed to open new spaces and support families across the province,” said Schmidt. “That’s why our government is investing in expanded and flexible post-secondary training, so more Manitobans can earn credentials, enter the workforce sooner and help ensure child care remains affordable and accessible now and into the future.”

“Early childhood educators are truly at the heart of our child care system,” said Ginette Lavack, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Indigenous services and member of Parliament for St. Boniface—St. Vital. “When we support better wages, we’re recognizing their dedication and investing in the well-being of our children, our families, and our communities.”

In 2023, the governments of Canada and Manitoba invested over $24 million to develop and expand ECE and CCA training programs at Manitoba’s publicly funded post-secondary institutions. This two‑year extension builds on that commitment, investing an additional $14.4 million for 2026-27 and 2027-28 to sustain 327 expanded ECE training seats at Assiniboine College, RRC Polytech, Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology, Université de Saint-Boniface and University College of the North.

“Competitive wages are an important step in strengthening Manitoba’s early learning and child-care workforce,” said Sophie Bouffard, president, Université de Saint-Boniface. “At Université de Saint-Boniface, we are proud to prepare the francophone and bilingual educators the sector needs.”

Funding for these initiatives is jointly supported through provincial and federal investments under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

First signed in August 2021, the agreement is directed at building a Canada-wide early learning and child-care system. The Government of Canada provided Manitoba with approximately $1.2 billion over five years to reduce the average out-of-pocket parent fees for licensed child care to $10-a-day and to expand access to more high-quality, inclusive child-care spaces for children under the age of seven. In February 2025, an extension of this agreement provided Manitoba with $1.9 billion in additional funding to 2031.

For more information on the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories/manitoba-canada-wide-2021.html.

For more information about Higher Wages, Good Jobs, More Child Care – Manitoba’s Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Strategy, visit https://www.gov.mb.ca/education/childcare/students_workforce/pubs/elcc_workforce_strategy.pdf

For more information about early learning and child care in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/childcare.

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For more information:

• Public information, contact Manitoba Government Inquiry: mgi@gov.mb.ca or 1-866-626-4862 or 204-945-3744.
• Media requests for general information, contact Communications and Engagement: newsroom@gov.mb.ca.
• Media requests for ministerial comment, contact Cabinet Communications: cabcom@manitoba.ca.

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