Manitoba pilot project to connect newcomer job-seekers with affordable childcare
The province and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce have partnered on a $1 million pilot project aimed at helping newcomers remove the barrier of finding reliable child care on the path to finding and keeping employment.
Wayne Ewasko, Manitoba’s minister of education and early childhood learning, made the announcement Thursday at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba (IRCOM).
“We all know that sometimes it’s difficult to access child care quickly, which can be a massive barrier to finding and keeping employment,” Ewasko said. “Our government is committed to ensuring all Manitoba families, including newcomers, have access to quality, affordable, inclusive child care that is conveniently located.”
The new funding will be used to create new child-care spaces dedicated to newcomers who are taking part in the Newcomer Employment Hub Program.
Launched earlier this summer, the program is touted as an innovative online job tool offered by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and aimed at creating quality job matches between newcomers and local employers. The province said it uses advanced technology to create connections between employers and newcomers with the support of newcomer service agencies.
Chamber president Loren Remillard said the hub offers a promising solution to the longstanding challenge Manitoba employers face in filling job vacancies.
He said since soft-launching the Newcomer Employment Hub back in March, it has engaged over 370 job seekers, 10 service agencies and 63 individual Manitoba employers.
He said the chamber heard from participants that one of the biggest barriers facing newcomers is child care.
“This partnership with the Manitoba government is truly an innovative, bold and community-driven response to what we were hearing from stakeholders,” Remillard said.
“It breaks down the top barrier between employers and newcomer Canadians and in doing so, it creates a path towards greater talent, attraction, development and retention, and thereby fostering increased, enhanced diversity, inclusivity and equity throughout Manitoba’s workplaces.”
Ewasko said initially the project will begin with 12 spaces at an IRCOM-supported child care center for newcomers taking part in the hub program. By April 2023, the entire $1 million will support 68 fully subsidized licensed child-care spaces for newcomer families.
“This new program will go a long way towards reducing barriers to employment, but it will also help people connect into our community more quickly,” he said.
Ewasko said future expansions could add capital improvements and renovations to add more child-care spaces and will be determined after a review of the project.
The Newcomer Employment Hub can be found on the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce’s website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.