40 new daycare spaces coming to Oakville: province

The community of Oakville, Man. will be getting its first child-care centre next year, thanks to money from the federal and provincial governments.

Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko made the announcement from Oakville Friday afternoon. He said the governments of Canada and Manitoba have allocated more than $1 million to pay for a community-based capital project to build a new child-care centre.

“Our government is committed to creating high-quality child-care spaces for Manitobans that have limited access to child care, such as Indigenous communities, newcomers and low-income families,” said Ewasko in a news release. “I am pleased that our government’s investment will help to develop the first child-care centre in the town of Oakville, a rural community in central Manitoba that currently has the lowest number of licensed child-care spaces in the province.”

The funding comes from the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which provides the province with approximately $1.2 billion over five years to improve access to early learning and child-care programs.

“Every child deserves the best start in life,” federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said in a news release. “This new child-care centre in Oakville will help grow our Canada-wide early learning and child-care system, allowing more children and families from Manitoba to access high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care.”

The daycare will have 40 new spaces - eight infant and 32 pre-school - which will help accommodate the needs of newcomer families and families requiring part-time child care.

A new community hall building that will include a child-care centre is being built in partnership with the Oakville Community Club, and is slated to open next year.