How to Get Involved with MCCA: Branches, Events, and News

The Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA) offers several ways to get involved beyond a basic membership: you can connect through one of six regional branches, follow upcoming events and award nominations, apply for the Board of Directors, or keep up with sector news through MCCA's publications and resource library. Most of these paths are designed for members, so joining is usually the first step if you want full access.

Regional branches: find your local network

MCCA organizes member connections through regional branches across Manitoba. The branches listed on the site are:

• Central Branch
• Interlake Branch
• Parkland Branch
• South Central Branch
• Thompson Branch
• Westman Branch

These branches are the local layer of a provincial association that describes itself as the largest provincial child care association in Canada and an affiliate member of the Canadian Child Care Federation. If your goal is networking with educators and child care providers in your own region, a branch is the most direct route. The site does not publish individual branch contact details or meeting schedules on the main page, so check the branch pages or contact MCCA directly for current local activity.

Events, awards, and board opportunities

MCCA's involvement opportunities cluster around a few recurring items:

• Upcoming events — listed under an events section on the site. These are the main way to attend professional development and sector gatherings.
• Awards nominations — MCCA's Public Policy and Professionalism Committee seeks nominations for MCCA Awards. The awards page hosts downloadable nomination forms for each award category.
• Board of Directors applications — the site includes a call for applications for the Board of Directors, alongside board member biographies for the 2026–2027 term.

If you want to influence how MCCA advocates for child care rather than just attend events, the awards committee and board application routes are the two formal entry points described on the site.

News and information channels

To stay current without attending anything, MCCA publishes and distributes several information sources:

A concrete example: the site's news section covers the Manitoba provincial budget and states that "the provincial government is listening to MCCA" — this is the kind of advocacy update members use to stay informed about sector funding.

Membership as the gateway

Many of these paths run through membership. MCCA lists member benefits including a group benefits plan, liability insurance for licensed child care centres and family child care homes, advocacy, the quarterly magazine, peer-to-peer connections, the resource library, volunteer opportunities, awards, reduced rates for professional development, and regional branch access.

MCCA reports 5,000 members and notes it was established in 1974, celebrating 50+ years. If you are deciding whether to join, the practical test is whether you need the insurance and group benefits, or whether you mainly want the networking and professional development — the first two are concrete services, while the rest are community and learning oriented.

How to start

1. Decide your goal: local networking (branch), learning (events and professional development), recognition (awards), governance (board), or information only (news and magazine).
2. Join MCCA if you need member-only services such as insurance, the resource library, or reduced professional development rates.
3. Check the events and awards pages for open calls, and download nomination forms if you are submitting one.
4. Contact MCCA or your regional branch for local meeting details, since the main page does not list branch schedules.

The site does not publish pricing for membership or events, so confirm current fees and eligibility directly with MCCA before applying.