School funding rising another 3.4% in Manitoba to highest level in 7 years
New school planned for Transcona, with opening targeted for September 2027
Manitoba is boosting school operating funding for next year by 3.4 per cent, and building a new kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Winnipeg's Transcona neighbourhood.
The increase in operating funding will be $53.1 million for the 2025-26 academic year. The present year also saw a 3.4 per cent increase ($51.5 million).
With $6 million for capital support and $7.8 million to independent schools as per their funding agreement, the total increase in funding equates to $67 million for next year, and brings the entire education budget to $1.8 billion.
A senior official with the Department of Education said the 2025-26 amount is well above the cost of living and recognizes cost pressures of salary settlements. It is the highest level of funding in the past seven years, the official said.
The actual increase per division will vary from one to 9.8 per cent. The full list can be viewed here.
Also for the second consecutive year, school divisions will not be penalized for raising taxes if the provincial grant falls short of their needs. There is no ceiling on the special levy school boards can set, the official said.
Manitoba's school funding system has faced criticism because it relies partly on property taxes, which can make it harder for schools in poorer areas to raise funds.
Under the Progressive Conservative Party, the government had ordered a multi-year freeze on the education portion of property taxes. The PCs had also proposed a funding overhaul for kindergarten to Grade 12 education in the province, but the NDP has not pursued that.
CBC has reached out to the PCs for comment.
Nevertheless, the NDP has made slight changes to the formula used to calculate the funding each division receives.
Per-pupil funding will be calculated based on the the highest enrolment in the previous three years, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said Monday morning at Bernie Wolfe School's library in Transcona.
"This should allow for greater predictability for school divisions," she said.
A larger overhaul is ongoing and the government has reinstated the Education Funding Stakeholder Advisory Committee "to identify further opportunities to improve the way education is funded in our province," Schmidt said.
"The way that it exists today, without necessary adjustments, perpetuates … what we might call inequities."
The province is also increasing funding for the school nutrition program, with an additional $6.8 million coming through an agreement with the federal government.
Homeowners will receive a $1,500 property tax credit to offset the impact of the education portion of their property tax bills, a move first announced in last year's budget. The credit replaces the previous Progressive Conservative $350 tax credit and 50 per cent education tax rebate.
'Positive impact': Teachers' society
Manitoba Teachers' Society President Nathan Martindale said they have long advocated for stable and predictable funding for public education and the increase will have a "positive impact" on both students and educators, according to a statement on Monday.
Manitoba School Boards Association president Sandy Nemeth is happy that all divisions are getting an increase this year, but she says school boards will still face challenges in addressing the needs of students in schools while keeping local education taxes down for ratepayers.
"No school board is interested in asking their ratepayer to contribute more than what is fair and reasonable in this current economic climate, and school boards are very good at prioritizing and planning so that programs that they do implement are sustained over time and don't have to be cancelled or called back and the same with staffing issues," she said.
Nemeth said there's still a significant need for new capital funding.
New school on Devonshire
The new school will be built on Devonshire Drive W. and cost an estimated $55 million, Schmidt said.
It will include 74 infant and preschool child-care spaces, a government news release said.
The school helps address an 11 per cent growth in student population in the River East Transcona School Division since 2019 and respond to projected enrolment growth, the release said.
Design work will begin in the coming months, with a construction start date in early 2026 and targeted opening date of September 2027.
"The board of trustees has spent the past decade endlessly advocating for new schools to meet the unprecedented growth that we have been experiencing," said Colleen Carswell, the River East Transcona School Division board chair.
With files from The Canadian Press