Children and UWSA Day Care staff in one of the daycare’s new infant rooms. (Cleo Curtis, UWSA Communications)
Thirty-two children have moved off the waitlist and into The University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA) Day Care thanks to a recently completed building expansion. The new space brings the daycare’s capacity up to 128 infants and pre-schoolers and adds eight early childhood educators to the centre’s full-time staff.
“The UWSA is proud to launch the expansion of our daycare, which will increase access to childcare for student-parents and community members on our campus,” said Laura Elsie Garinger, UWSA President. “We believe in accessible childcare for parents, wherever they might live, study, and work, along with working to remove barriers to post-secondary education for all current students and future students in our province.”
Construction on the 2,370 sq. ft. addition began in July 2017 and was completed on schedule earlier this month. The project was funded by the Province of Manitoba, the UWSA, and UWinnipeg.
“It is exciting to see how our government’s investment in this expansion will help provide immense value and create opportunities for The University of Winnipeg’s students, faculty and surrounding community,” said Minister of Families Scott Fielding. “Our commitment is to strengthen the childcare system and shorten wait times by re-invigorating investments in quality, licensed childcare spaces.”
A mother and daughter playing in the pre-school room of the UWSA Day Care’s new expansion. (Cleo Curtis, UWSA Communications)
The UWSA Day Care is a provincially licensed, not-for-profit centre for infants and children up to five years old. Children of UWinnipeg student-parents occupy seventy-five per cent of the new childcare spaces.
“Many of our students have children and have to balance family and academics during their time at UWinnipeg. Access to high quality, on-campus childcare makes a big difference in their success at university,” said Dr. Annette Trimbee, UWinnipeg President and Vice Chancellor.
The new space has been named MacNamara Hall in honour of the former University building on Spence Street, which housed the UWSA Day Care from 1986 to 2009. It was named for Sister Geraldine MacNamara, who was a tireless advocate for inner-city children and youth.
The daycare expansion was managed by The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation. The project’s design, construction, and implementation was completed by Prairie Architects Inc., Manshield Construction, Wolfram Engineering, the KGS Group, and UWinnipeg’s Physical Plant Department.
The new day care expansion meets all of the minimum energy performance requirements of the Manitoba Energy Code for Buildings and Manitoba Hydro Power Smart program.
UWSA Day Care features:
- The daycare is located next to McFeetors Hall: Great-West Life Student Residence, allowing for a holistic approach to meeting family needs in one location.
- The facility includes a green, natural, fenced outdoor play area.
- The daycare population comes from students (50%), community (25%), and faculty and staff (25%).
- With the recent expansion, the daycare has 32 infant spaces and 96 pre-school spaces.
- Standard provincial fees apply. Low-income students are eligible for subsidy through the Manitoba Child Care program.
- In November 2011, the building achieved LEED Silver status from the Canada Green Building Council.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Eva Wasney, E-Communications Coordinator, The University of Winnipeg,
P: 204.988.7129, E: e.wasney@uwinnipeg.ca
Cleo Leslie, Communications Manager, The University of Winnipeg Students’ Association,
P: 204.786.9867, E: communications@theuwsa.ca
