Manitoba takes a different approach to ECE by incorporating education as well as care into the classroom. The province calls this approach childhood learning. The Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Division is responsible for hiring qualified early educators and following the framework for learning implemented by the Manitoba Education and Early Learning Department. The key vision outlined in this framework is that “all children and youth from every part of Manitoba matter, belong, and are respected, successful and safe.” (Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning. 2024.)
The core values of this act are:
3 levels of certifications:
Manitoba’s NDP won the recent 2023 provincial elections but most of the province’s ECE policies were enforced during the Progressive Conservative Party’s leadership. The Progressive Conservative Party focused on the parental right to be informed of their child’s school curriculum and classroom values. The party is still discussing the topic of student gender expression and whether it was something to include in ECE policy proposals. Now, the newly elected NDP has strayed away from this subject and focused policy making more on creating a universal nutrition program to ensure each student has a meal. This proposed program would cost the provincial government $30 million a year.