The MCCA was established on May 11, 1974 at a meeting of day care parents, staff, and interested people who were all concerned with the effects of the Federal Provincial day care subsidy program on the quality of child care in Manitoba. This first meeting authorized a steering committee of 11 people - 6 parents and 5 staff to: 

(1) communicate the general dissatisfaction of the members of the association to both Federal and Provincial Governments 
(2) to organize a meeting for early in June to elect an executive and 
(3) to draft a brief to the Honourable Saul Miller, Minister of Health and Social Development, outlining our objections to the program in detail.

Co-hosted the first National Child Care Conference

Successful lobby for the exemption from Municipal and Education Tax Levy for non profit centres and nursery schools

Initiated the Week of the Child Care Employee, later changed to Week of the ECE

Burned the mortgage on MCCA House

Produced "Employment Aids Binder" for child care centres

Multicultural Project provides parent education videos and brochures in three languages

Home Alone Campaign

Crisis Response Manual published; Code of Ethics Ratified

First Directors Conference held; First MCCA/Manitoba Child Care Program challenge event held; FAS resource for ECE' s produced

First Managing and Leading in the Non-Profit Child Care Sector workshops presented; First "Educaring" Conference co-hosted with Manitoba Association of School Trustees

77% of the 24,000 responses to the Vision for Child Care and Development in Manitoba were generated by MCCA sponsored activities; MCCA leads the way to a national ethics project MCCA publishes Building the Career Corridor: Manitoba's Early Childhood Labour Market Strategy Project Report; MCCA launched our first website.

Grand opening of new MCCA offices at 2350 McPhillips St. MCCA sponsored Dragon Boat Team: Three Hour Tour.

Lobbied for the Multilateral Framework on Early Leaming and Child Care. MCCA submitted a proposal for a Feasibility Study on Voluntary Accreditation.

MCCA produced Privacy Policy Resources for Early Childhood Facilities.

Celebrated the historic signing of the funding agreement on Early Leaming and Child Care between the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba. Received funding for the Feasibility Study on Voluntary Accreditation on Manitoba's Licensed Child Care Facilities.

Lobbied to maintain the 2005 funding agreement, cancelled by the newly elected Government of Canada.

Feasibility Study on Voluntary Accreditation completed and resources distributed as a resource for licensed child care programs. Contracted with People First HR Services to develop a Market Competitive Salary Guideline Scale for Group Child Care Centres, and to upgrade our Human Resource Management Guide for Early Childhood Programs. MCCA develops another strategic plan 2007 - 2010 and our first vision statement.

Advocated to influence the second multi-year child care development plan: Family Choices Manitoba's Five-Year Agenda for Early Leaming and Child Care. Revised Market Competitive Salary Guideline Scale for Group Child Care Centres 2008. Terminated group benefits plan with Great West Life and appointed Health Source Plus as our group benefits plan administrators; trained 11 new Ethics Guides; held a "Call for Action" on October 22, 2008 to draw attention to the childcare workforce shortage.

Re-introduced a group RRSP plan to be administered by Health Source Plus in partnership with Industrial Alliance; co-hosted 32nd Annual Conference with the Canadian Child Care Federation; produced Market Competitive Salary Guideline Scale for Early Leaming and Child Care Centres 2009; developed a first position statement on the integration of child care and education; produced a guideline pandemic plan, code of conduct, and use of technology policies for the Human Resource Management Guide for
Early Leaming and Child Care Programs.

Developed and continued to refine position statement on Education and Early Leaming and Care in Manitoba to reflect the growing trend toward integration of the two systems in other provinces. Also developed a policy Pension Plan for the Care Workforce in
Manitoba and submitted it to the Government of Manitoba. Produced Market Competitive Salary Guideline Scale for Early Learning and Child Care Centres 2010. On October 7, 2010, the Minister of Family Services announced funding for the pension plan
will be effective December 1, 2010. Worked with Industrial Alliance to offer a Simplified Money Purchase Pension Plan for MCCA members. Continued to learn about and identify a position statement on an apprenticeship model of ECE training.

MCCA experienced a down turn in our revenue and had a net loss at year end. There are a number of reasons - the province has directed new funding to new facilities and existing facilities had to operate with very little new revenue. A few centres stopped paying their employees MCCA dues and rather than pay their own, the employees terminated their memberships. There was less money for professional development so attendance at our conference dropped significantly. There are more multi-site facilities with lots of employees and they are doing their own in-house professional development.

The Honourable Jennifer Howard was named Minister of Family Services and Labour early in 2012. Her first announcement on child care was welcomed by facilities as it included a revenue package for both 2012 and 2013. Parent fees were to increase by $1.00 per day in each year and the unit funding is to increase by 1 % in each year. In addition, there is a commitment to develop a standardized wage scale. Other developing issues are full school day kindergarten; reduced class size commitment; the re-appearance of an apprenticeship model of ECE training; the likelihood of a change to ECE training and classifications.

Membership participation has peaked and dipped at 3809 members, even though the size of the system continues to grow. Out of 2,592 ECE II's and Ill's, 1571 are MCCA members. Out of 4,475 CCA's, 1272 are MCCA members. MCCA learned about and spearheaded a campaign that led to the Manitoba School Boards Association defeating a resolution that would have granted school boards local autonomy to determine the feasibility of continuing commitments for educational spaces currently utilized by daycare and childcare centres in school buildings.

MCCA proudly celebrated our 40th anniversary. Pedagogical Community of Practice interest spreading; initiated regular Director Lunch & Learns; redesigned our website, began work to introduce an all in one membership management platform -Your Membership; updated and added to our Human Resource Management Guide for Early Leaming and Child Care Programs; participated on new workforce roundtable (in place of the Child Care Regulatory Review Committee); Government of Manitoba announces new Family Choices plan including a Commission on Early Leaming and Child Care and also Bill 7, The Public Schools Amendment Act (Protecting Child Care Space in Schools).

Top 10 of the year included: consistently had 4000 members; committing to a paperless membership processing system by 2018; first online workshops in partnership with RRC; launched our new website and YM for membership management; started to tweet from @MCCAHOUSE; held the 16th annual directors conference; partnered with People First to offer HR at Your Service to child care centres; held the first pedagogical institute October 16 - 17; participated on the Commission on Early Leaming and Child Care; excited the Government of Manitoba committed to a universal child care system and to a provincial wage scale; a new federal government committed to introduce a federal framework on early learning and child care. The year concluded with much excitement and optimism for the elusive brighter future!

MCCA's membership held consistent at 3957 members. Regular meetings were had with Early Leaming & Child Care Program as well as with Minister Fielding. Federal Government announces over $7B in federal funding for early learning and child care across Canada over 10 years. Government of MB announces more funding for capital, preschool spaces and operating grant for family child care. Licensing streamlined, review of legislations, regulations and procedures begin (Bill 9 - Community Child Care Standards Amendment Act).

The membership numbers increased slightly in 2018, finishing the year with 3999 members. Manitoba signed the Canada-Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The five pillars under Manitoba's Action Plan included: Supporting New and Newly Funded, Affordable and Accessible Spaces, Building Sector Capacity and Stability, Rural and Northern Strategy, Diversity and Inclusion and Community Engagement and Public Reporting.

The membership numbers reached an all-time high of 4110. With a decrease in the student memberships to only $10.00/year (MCCA membership only) or $35.00/year (MCCA & CCCF membership), the number of student members increased by over 300% ! In February, MCCA circulated a general petition to increase funding for licensed not forprofit child-care programs. In only 4 short weeks, it received over 26,000 signatures. MCCA presented the Manitoba Legislative Assembly with the petition in April, where it was read every day in Question Period for months afterwards.

This year will be remembered for years to come due to the global pandemic. Covid-19 changed the way many organizations operated. The issues, challenges and events of 2020 tested the resiliency of many, including MCCA. But through it all, the staff, board of directors and volunteers of the association, continued to advocate for early learning and child care, while still offering services to its 3949 members. MCCA updated resources to support its membership - The Crisis Staffing Plan Guideline for ELCC programs and The Pandemic Business Continuity Plan.

Much of the first half of this year was devoted to Bill 4 7 - The Early Leaming & Child Care Act. When the Bill was announced by the Province of Manitoba, many questions and concerns resulted. MCCA spent countless hours reviewing Bill 47 in comparison to the Community Child Care Standards Act and subsequently sharing information with members. MCCA partnered with Probe Research and released data on Public Views on Manitoba's Child Care System. History was made in 2021 when the federal budget laid the beginning steps of a universal, accessible, affordable, quality early learning and child care system across Canada.

As investments under the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide Early Leaming & Child Care Agreement begin to flow, it is an incredibly exciting, historic, and busy time for MCCA. The Association was invited to numerous announcements about investments into the workforce and on affordability by both the federal and provincial governments. MCCA gathered stakeholders from various sectors for consultation on its Roadmap to a Quality Early Learning and Child Care System. It was publicly released. In addition, MCCA updated and indexed its Market Competitive Salary Guideline Scale 2022-2023 in anticipation of a provincial wage grid. As restrictions surrounding the pandemic began to loosen, MCCA resumed in-person workshops, its 44th Provincial Annual Conference, Pedagogical Leaders of Community Practice and its 21 st Directors Conference in Brandon, Manitoba. MCCA was invited to sit on the Joint Officials' Implementation Committee to discuss progress on Manitoba's Action Plan (CWELCC Plan). MCCA continues to be an active participant on the Minister's Consultation Table.