Children and Family Development
More parents in Vancouver, North Vancouver and the Sea to Sky Corridor will be able to return to work, go back to school or pursue other opportunities as the Province invests in more than 680 new licensed child care spaces, more than 450 of which are expected to open by the end of the year.
“For too long, families struggled to find safe, licensed child care that fit in their budget and was also close to home,” said Niki Sharma, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings. “These new licensed child care spaces coming to Vancouver build on our commitment to create a universal child care system. Today’s announcement will make life easier for families to find child care in our community.”
The Province is supporting 11 projects to create 681 new licensed child care spaces in Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler:
- Vancouver (344)
- North Vancouver (181)
- West Vancouver (96)
- Squamish (37)
- Whistler (23)
“Accessing affordable and licensed child care is a huge challenge for young families, and lack of spaces in our community has resulted in many parents, often women, leaving the workforce,” said Linda Buchanan, mayor, City of North Vancouver. “The city is committed to working in partnership with the Province to create new spaces that support the well-being of children and the lives of working parents. Today’s announcement is great news for people in the community.”
In addition, 32 other projects have also received funding in these communities since the launch of Childcare BC in July 2018.
“As we enter the fourth year of our 10-year Childcare BC plan, thousands of families are already feeling the life-changing impact of having affordable, quality and inclusive child care,” said Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care. “As we continue to build toward an inclusive universal child care system, these new spaces will make it easier for parents, especially mothers, to pursue their own goals, while being part of B.C.’s economic recovery.”
The Province has funded almost 26,000 new licensed spaces since the launch of Childcare BC – more than 6,000 of which are now open.
An additional 4,370 spaces, funded through the 2017 Budget Update and the Early Learning and Child Care agreement with the Government of Canada, takes the total number of new child care spaces funded since July 2017 to more than 29,300.
Quick Facts:
- Since July 2018, almost 26,000 new licensed child care spaces have been funded in British Columbia, including 3,518 in Vancouver, 891 in North Vancouver, 118 in West Vancouver and 132 in Squamish.
- The Childcare BC plan has helped parents save up to $1,600 a month, per child, for a total of over $770 million through the Affordable Child Care Benefit and Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative.
- As a result of these investments, parents in Vancouver, North Vancouver and West Vancouver-Sea to Sky have saved more than $55 million; $17 million and $6 million, respectively.
- Early childhood educators in Vancouver, North Vancouver and West Vancouver-Sea to Sky have received more than $9.2 million combined.
Learn More:
For information on health and safety standards for child care during COVID-19, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/ChildCareCovid-19Response
Child care factsheet: https://news.gov.bc.ca/18430
For more about Childcare BC, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare
A backgrounder follows.
