Manitoba announces school funding hike, but divisions say they're still facing significant financial pressure

Manitoba schools are getting an overall 3.5 per cent raise in funding from the province in the coming school year.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt announced $79.8 million in new funding for the 2026-27 school year with $51 million of the total amount going toward operating costs, the province said.

The funding varies for each school division, based partly on enrolment. The amount includes $11.4 million in grants to support divisions most impacted by teacher salary harmonization.

"Harmonization does not impact all school divisions equally. So while this was a significant pressure for many school divisions, it was not the only pressure facing school divisions," Schmidt said during an event at Earl Grey School in Winnipeg.

A collective agreement setting the standardized wage scale was struck in 2024. It would typically benefit rural divisions, which have lower salaries. The scale comes into effect in the next school year.

Schmidt said the overall funding increase is above the rate of inflation.

Statistics Canada says Manitoba had a 2.7 per cent inflation rate on an annual basis in 2025, but the agency's latest snapshot shows that prices were 3.7 per cent higher in the province this past December compared to the same month in 2024.

Lillian Klausen, president of the Manitoba Teachers' Society, said she's "a little bit disappointed" with the announcement. 

"We were hoping that the funding increase would be above inflation in a way that we can start backfilling some of the big funding gaps that we have seen over the last number of years when we've had cuts to education," Klausen said.  

"It certainly doesn't do anything to backfill some of the big needs that we have in our classrooms today," she said.

The teachers' society said the province's schools are dealing with chronic underfunding as teachers deal with larger and more complex classrooms.

Jamie Rudnicki, chief financial officer at Winnipeg's Louis Riel School Division, said financial pressure is "constant."

The division is expecting a $4.3 million boost from the province in 2026-27. Rudnicki said salaries and benefits alone at LRDS have increased by about $12 million.

The division raised the mill rate used to calculate property taxes within its catchment area by 6.43 per cent last year, but still began 2026 with a $2.4 million deficit.