This backgrounder contains additional information on the nine projects that will create a total of 508 new licensed child care spaces in Surrey and Delta.

Rothewood Academy (South Surrey)

In March 2020, the facility opened 171 new licensed child care spaces – 72 for infants and toddlers and 99 for children aged three to five years. The school includes a 790 square-metre (8,500 square-foot) roof-top playground and a curriculum focussed on natural learning, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and art. The new school will create over 50 positions in the field of early childhood education in the city.

Mark Leslie, president, Rothewood Academy (South Surrey) –

“Child care is a concern for so many families in the city of Surrey. With partnership with provincial government, we are pleased to create a quality daycare spaces for 171 children and we are delighted to serve the community of South Surrey/White Rock.”

CEFA South Surrey Morgan Crossing –

CEFA South Surrey is building a new five-classroom facility in Morgan Crossing with more than 790 square metres (8,500 square feet) of indoor child care space and a 465 square-metre (5,000 square-foot) outdoor play area. The new facility will include 90 new licensed child care spaces, including 24 for infants and toddlers and 66 for children aged three years to kindergarten. The curriculum includes reading, STEM, art, music and yoga. The new centre will employ 24 early childhood educators.

April Kennedy, franchise partner, CEFA Early Learning Morgan Crossing –

“It is with great excitement that, through our partnership with the provincial government, we are able to bring the CEFA (Core Education & Fine Arts) brand to South Surrey and Morgan Crossing. As the leader in early childhood education, the CEFA curriculum is based on the latest research in child and brain development. We’ve earned a reputation for developing intellect in the early years, and providing children with the finest start in education, arts and the humanities. We look forward to growing with the local community and showcasing why CEFA early learning is considered the premiere private school for children ages one to five.”

Baby Acorns (Surrey)

Baby Acorns will create eight new licensed spaces for infants and toddlers, and will offer child care Monday to Saturday. The operator will work with Sources BC, a non-profit organization that helps connect people to social services, to ensure clients receive priority access to child care spaces. 

Holly Halford, manager, Baby Acorns –

“We are so thankful to the Childcare BC New Spaces Fund for their support. There are so many families in Surrey desperately looking for affordable, high-quality child care. We are proud to be part of the solution for families in our community.”

Gobind Sarvar Preschool and Afterschool (Surrey)

This new facility is scheduled to open in September 2020. It includes 50 new licensed child care spaces: 20 for pre-school children and 30 for school-aged children. The centre offers youth extracurricular classes with a focus on Punjabi language, religion, sports, martial arts and English as a second language classes. The facility encourages creativity and healthy development through a blend of unique learning experiences and activities.

Amarjit Singh Sangha, director, Gobind Sarvar Preschool and Afterschool (Surrey) –

“It is our goal to see every child reach his or her full potential. Our experienced and well-qualified teaching staff excels in providing the best care possible to the children and their families in our community. We welcome enrollment of children from all backgrounds."

Octopus Academy Surrey

Octopus Academy Surrey is building a new accessible classroom to accommodate 14 additional child care spaces for children aged three years to kindergarten. The facility will work with the community nurse and Supported Child Development Program to assist families whose children have extra support needs. Octopus Academy offers dance (yoga, ballet and movements) and Taekwondo lessons. It also assists newcomers to Canada by waiving their registration fee and deposit.

Karen Lau, director, Octopus Academy Surrey –

“We are so grateful to have this additional classroom to support the growing child care needs of families in Surrey. When new families come to Canada the challenges can seem overwhelming, so we’re proud to wave registration fees for new Canadians and introduce children of all backgrounds and abilities to new activities and traditions.”

Tiny Hoppers Early Learning South Surrey

Tiny Hoppers Early Learning South Surrey is building six new classrooms and two outdoor spaces to accommodate 90 new child care spaces: 40 for infants and toddlers and 50 for children aged three years to kindergarten. The centre offers music, drama, yoga, karate and visual-arts classes. A parent education program will also be available to help young parents learn how to communicate with their child and manage difficult behaviours, as well as what to expect in the early childhood years. The new spaces are expected to open in fall 2020. 

Eva Wong, director, Tiny Hoppers Early Learning South Surrey –

“We are so grateful for this support that will help us meet the growing child care needs of families in South Surrey. We will continue to work closely with our partners to create the best environment for our children. Our program provides all meals and snacks for children, with the help of an on-site cook. And our highly trained childhood educators offer holistic, high-quality child care to help guide children along their path to lifelong learning.”

Al-Kawthar Childcare Centre (Surrey)

This new child care facility will open in early 2021 as part of a multi-purpose complex that will include a mosque, child care and an adult education centre. The child care facility will have 28 new licensed spaces: 12 for infants and toddlers and 16 for children aged three years to kindergarten.

Malik Ibrahim, director, Al-Kawthar Childcare Centre –

“As a non-profit organization, our primary aim is to support our local community – present and future. We believe that by investing in children from a young age, we are assisting in the development of our society. Further, as our members are mostly new and first-generation Canadians, we have seen first-hand the difficulty of balancing work, self-improvement and raising children. We recognize the unmet need for child care in our neighbourhood and hope that by offering affordable child care services alongside our adult education centre, we can empower more parents to join the workforce and contribute to society and our local economy, while nurturing the future generations.”

South Delta Wee Clubhouse

Located near the Delta Hospital, this facility supports the child care needs of local health-care professionals. This funding was used to renovate part of the Savior Lutheran Church to create 16 new licensed child care spaces – eight for children aged three years to kindergarten and eight multi-age spaces. Programming includes animal and environmental conservation, such as growing pumpkins and hands-on experiences with wildlife groups like the Vancouver Aquarium and the Yogi Street Dog Rescue Society.

Katie Gordon-Carmichael, owner, South Delta Wee Clubhouse –  

“We are so proud to have started a centre that provides child care in our community. Creating a warm and natural space for children to thrive has been an amazing experience for all the educators at my centre. We will continue to learn and grow each day as we follow the lead of the children’s natural curiosity.”

Alphabetz Daycare (Delta)

This North Delta facility, which is expected to open fall 2020, is centrally located near transit routes and will include two 279 square-metre (3,000 square-foot) classrooms, five accessible washrooms, a full kitchen and a playground. Alphabetz Daycare will create 40 new licensed spaces for children aged three years to kindergarten. Families will have access to a counsellor and behavioural interventionist for support, referrals and resources. The facility will employ staff who speak Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Arabic.

Bassam Abun-Nadi, assistant operations manager, Alphabetz Daycare –

“Alphabetz Daycare is a brand new 30-month-to-school-age facility. It is a proud addition to the Iqra Education Society’s family of institutions. With the goal of opening this fall, Alphabetz will serve the Surrey/Delta region with a desperately needed maximum capacity of 40 children. This project would not have been possible without the financial support of Childcare BC's New Space’s Fund. With their support, we were able to get this project off the ground and focus on children and their families.”

• Since launching in February 2018, the Childcare BC plan has helped parents save up to $1,600 a month, per child, for a total of nearly $510 million through the Affordable Child Care Benefit and Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative. As a result of these investments:
  • over 32,000 children have received child care for no more than $10 a day, including 4,937 in Surrey and Delta;
  • parents in Surrey and Delta have saved more than $77.9 million.
•  In November 2018, six child care providers in Surrey were selected to deliver low-cost child care as a Childcare BC Universal Prototype Site. The centres provide 241 child care spaces in total: www.gov.bc.ca/childcareprototypesites
• The City of Delta received a $25,000 grant and the City of Surrey received two $25,000 grants from the Community Child Care Planning program, administered by the Union of B.C. Municipalities, to identify their specific child care space needs: www.ubcm.ca/EN/main/funding/lgps/child-care.html
• In January 2020, the Province launched a new professional development program, which is giving early childhood educators access to more than 30 teaching specialists at community hubs around B.C., helping them to stay up to date on the latest child care teaching trends and techniques.
• The Province has made significant investments to improve supports to B.C.’s early care and learning professionals, including approximately $16 million to provide more than 6,000 bursaries and workforce-development supports for students pursuing a career in child care.
• To date, the Province has invested more than $27 million to provide more than 12,000 early childhood educators with a $1-per-hour wage enhancement, which increased to $2 an hour in April 2020. This includes more than $3.73 million for early childhood educators in Surrey and Delta.