Construction has begun on a new 100-cell women's jail in Manitoba.

Attorney General Dave Chomiak said on Thursday the correctional centre near Headingley, just west of Winnipeg, would offer new programs to help prisoners move back into society.

"It will create a positive cultural environment and it will have enhanced working conditions for correctional staff," said Infrastructure Minister Ron Lemieux, who attended the announcement with Chomiak.

"It also meets some of our highest environmental standards and has been carefully designed so it will be operational for many years to come."

The 120,000-square-foot facility "will create an environment that makes it possible for the system to do more to make positive interventions in the lives of offenders," said Chomiak.

The new building will replace the aging Portage Correctional Centre, parts of which date back to 1893. That facility is located in Portage la Prairie, about 70 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

An independent committee had recommended a new jail be built in Headingley, which would be closer to courts in Winnipeg, as well as to lawyers and the families of many offenders. The jail will hold both sentenced inmates and women awaiting trial, and provide low to high security units.

Much of the construction is expected to be complete in the summer of 2011, with the jail opening in the fall of that year.