More than 1,000 new child-care spaces have opened across Manitoba since late 2025, including new and expanded facilities in Winnipeg.

The provincial and federal governments announced Thursday that 1,075 infant, preschool, nursery, and school-aged spaces have opened as part of efforts to expand access to affordable child care.

“Every new child-care space means more families can go to work, go to school or pursue opportunities knowing their children are in a safe, nurturing environment,” said Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt.

The governments provided capital funding for three new or expanded child-care centres in Winnipeg, along with start-up and operating funding for expansions at another 88 facilities across Manitoba. Those projects created 728 new spaces, while the province said it also created 347 school-aged spaces.

Winnipeg centre adds 48 spaces

Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre opened its sixth Winnipeg facility in early 2026, adding 48 spaces for families in the Chalmers area.

The expansion includes 16 infant and 32 preschool spaces. Munroe now provides 359 spaces across its facilities.

“We’ve long dreamed of expanding our services to provide the much-needed care that families with infants so urgently need,” said executive director Silvana Passante-Cantafio.

“Thanks to our most recent renovation and expansion, we are now welcoming infants and preschoolers to Munroe on Thames.”

Nearly 13,000 spaces opened or committed to

Since October 2023, the federal and provincial governments have opened more than 3,700 new licensed and funded spaces for infants and nursery and preschool-aged children across Manitoba. More than 6,250 additional spaces are in planning and development.

Manitoba has also opened nearly 1,800 school-aged spaces since October 2023, with more than 900 more planned.

“In total, our government has opened or committed to more than 12,700 new child-care spaces for kids 12 and under since fall 2023,” Schmidt said.

The new spaces are jointly supported through provincial and federal investments under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.