Manitoba to boost education funding for the upcoming school year

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Education funding for the upcoming 2022/23 school year will be increased by $120.4 million, with all Manitoba schools receiving at least 98 per cent of the funding they got last year, the province announced on Friday.

A large portion of that money, $77 million, is in one-time funding for public schools to help them deal with ongoing financial pressures.

The rest goes towards the annual school funding, with an overall $41.2 million going to public schools and another $2.1 million going to independent schools.

The one-time funding is similar to an $80 million funding announcement in January meant to address wage agreements for teachers and pandemic-related expenses for the 2021/22 school year.

Public schools are getting an $18 million funding boost, which equates to a 1.34 per cent increase. Seven million dollars is earmarked for operation and $11 million will go towards capital spending.

Public schools are also getting $23.2 million in a Property Tax Offset Grant, which is meant to make up for lost funding due to the gradual elimination of education property taxes that began last year.

The province noted school enrolments have dropped during the pandemic with a difference of about 5,700 students in 2021 compared to 2019, but said with the new funding announcements, no schools divisions will be negatively affected.

Student funding remains second in the country with per-student spending of $15,434 compared to a Canadian average of about $14,000. New Brunswick leads the country in per-student spending.