October 1 is four weeks from today. Not a budget speech. A date already printed in Manitoba's CFS Standards Manual.
The province says the four new agreement standards in that manual "are interim and will expire on October 1st, 2026." Same paragraph: during this period, agencies are to collaborate with their Nations and rights holders to develop their own policy, standards, and procedures to support the use of agreements. Authorities and agencies can submit those documents to the Child and Youth Services Division at any point prior to October 2026.
That is the government's own page — CFS Standards Manual 1.2.6 (Family Support Agreements). We are not the Department of Families. We are pointing at the line so a worker does not have to hunt.
What this is not
It is not a claim that every Agreement with a Young Adult vanishes on October 1. The older AYA page in the same manual (1.1.8, approved 2022/06/30) still describes a voluntary agreement offered when someone turns 18 under a permanent order. Read both. If you are writing the plan, read the live Child and Family Services Act too. Do not treat a 2022 manual page as the last word.
What it is
A changeover. After October 1, how an agency writes those agreement policies is supposed to sit with that agency and its Nations and rights holders, not with an interim provincial template. If your agency has not filed that work, the calendar does not wait.
If you are 15 or older and still in care, the leaving-care standard is already in force: a detailed transition plan at 15, including skills for adult living (manual 1.1.7). Ask your worker now. If you are a worker, do not park the conversation until a new policy PDF lands. Cooking, budget, groceries, IDs, bank, school — those do not get easier in a changeover.
New Steps
New Steps is an Independent Living Program in Winnipeg for young people 16 to 21 leaving care. 24/7 support and assistance, not a licensed staffed home. Referral is a caseworker conversation and a tour. Not same-day. Not a crisis service. When a room is open, about a week at the fastest. Call 431-444-2114 or use the referral form on this site.
