More parents in central Vancouver Island will be able to pursue work, school and other opportunities while knowing their children are cared for as the Province invests in more than 320 new licensed child care spaces.

“Parents and caregivers deserve to know their kids are in safe hands while they are at work, and with these new spaces, high-quality care will be accessible for many more families,” said Adam Walker, MLA for Parksville-Qualicum. “We are creating a child care system where care is available for every family who wants it, across Vancouver Island and B.C.”

The Province is supporting eight child care providers to create 321 new licensed child care spaces in the central Vancouver Island communities of Crofton, Nanaimo, Qualicum Beach, Tofino and Ucluelet.

In addition to these child care locations, 1,139 new spaces have been funded in Crofton, Nanaimo, Qualicum Beach, Tofino and Ucluelet since the launch of ChildCareBC in July 2018.

“We know that access to affordable child care makes an enormous difference in people’s lives, and we’re seeing that first-hand in our communities as our government has created more spaces and made them more affordable,” said Josie Osborne, MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim. “We know there’s still more work to do to build a future where child care is a core service that’s available and affordable for any family that wants it. That’s why we will keep working to build more new spaces, and I’m so grateful to our partners who are coming forward to help make this a reality.”

Pam Moore, manager, Qualicum First Nation Child Care Centre, said: “On behalf of Qualicum First Nation and the child care centre, we are looking forward to receiving funding to build a new infant and toddler centre to serve all families in the local community. This, along with our application for $10 a Day funding, will see affordable and accessible child care for children up to three years old. Together with our child care centre for children three to five years and our after-school centre, we will be able to provide all child care needs for families in the area.”

Since 2018, the Province has invested $2.7 billion in ChildCareBC, including funding more than 26,000 new licensed child care spaces through the New Spaces Fund and other space-creation programs.

"For years, parents in B.C. were left with a patchwork system where child care was treated as a luxury. As we enter the fifth year of our 10-year ChildCareBC plan, we are making significant progress to reverse this," said Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care. "We've been working to turn the corner by building new spaces, lowering fees and training the skilled professionals needed to offer quality child care as a core service available to every family that wants it at a price they can afford."

“Our government is creating new child care spaces in communities throughout B.C. to ensure child care is available when and where families need it,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Education and Child Care. “With some of the new child care spaces on school grounds, we’re able to better integrate child care into the broader learning environment so children can more easily transition from their early care programs into their school community.”

New spaces require new early childhood educators (ECEs). A recruitment and retention strategy was included as part of B.C.’s 10-year ChildCareBC plan, launched in 2018. Progress since then includes:

• providing more than 10,000 bursaries to support nearly 6,000 ECE students;
• creating 1,150 new ECE student spaces at post-secondary schools, which more than doubles the number of seats since 2018; and
• enhancing ECE compensation by $4 per hour.

Budget 2022 builds on this through a $3.9-million investment over the next three years to add another 390 new ECE seats at public post-secondary institutions in B.C.

As a result of ChildCareBC investments, parents in Nanaimo-North Cowichan; Parksville-Qualicum; and Tofino-Ucluelet have saved more than $30 million, $8 million, and $11 million respectively.

Quick Facts:

• In 2022-23, Budget 2022 is providing an additional $30 million for the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund to further expand the number of licensed child care spaces with a focus on spaces for school-aged children.
• More than 30,000 children receive support through the Affordable Child Care Benefit every month. Parents making less than $45,000 can receive 100% funding and those making as much as $111,000 can receive partial funding.
• In 2021-22, fee reductions were approved for more than 68,800 child care spaces at more than 3,600 child care facilities in B.C. through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative.
• Through the Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the Government of Canada has provided a one-time $49.2-million investment that will reduce barriers and increase access to post-secondary ECE programs and professional learning to support ECE graduates to transition to the workforce.

Learn More:

For more about ChildCareBC, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare

For more about the New Spaces Fund, visit: https://www.gov.bc.ca/childcare/newspacesfund

Two backgrounders follow.