Wpg Free Press: Daycare upgrade creates 54 spots

As the Winnipeg Free Press reports: 

A daycare expansion at the University of Manitoba gives priority to Indigenous undergraduate students who need the service while they attend classes and nearly doubles the child-care capacity at the Fort Garry campus.

So it was no surprise to see the university celebrate the grand opening Tuesday with a host of senior academic officials and two local Conservative MLAs — all in their sock feet in the new mini-gym for a series of speeches and to admire the new space.

The $3.3-million expansion includes a 7,750-square-foot addition to the existing centre on Dysart Road. The project broke ground in 2017, in response to a university report four years earlier that called for enhanced daycare services.

Fifty-four new spaces were added to the existing daycare centre that previously had a capacity of 64 children. (Twenty other spaces from elsewhere on campus were also folded into the centre.)

The daycare centre accepts children from the age of three months to six years old. There are 17 spots set aside for the children of Indigenous undergraduate students — and they will be given priority on the waiting list, which now runs to 800 names of students, staff and faculty.

Funding will also support the centre in its efforts to weave traditional Indigenous teachings into the daycare’s curriculum — an effort to prepare the next generation to continue the process of reconciliation, a focus that is part of the university’s core values.

All 138 spots are currently filled.

“It makes a huge difference as we take the next step in reconciliation and make sure our children are aware of things that happened in the past,” said Ashley Davidson, chairwoman of the board for the children’s centre and a U of M employee.

Read the full story here.