Media Contacts

Ministry of Education and Child Care

Government Communications and Public Engagement
778 974-5825

Backgrounders

New child care spaces for families in the Okanagan region

This backgrounder contains additional information on the four child care sites that will create 240 new licensed child care spaces in the Okanagan region.

KELOWNA –

City of Kelowna

Kelowna Airport YMCA Child Care; 86 spaces (12 infant-toddler, 50 2.5 years to kindergarten age, 24 school age), located on airport grounds

PENTICTON –

Interior Health Authority

Facility name to be confirmed; 76 spaces (20 infant-toddler, 32 2.5 years to kindergarten age, eight multi-age spaces), located on hospital grounds

The Board of Education of School District 67

Columbia Elementary school; 34 school-age spaces, located on school grounds

VERNON –

Okanagan College

Facility name to be confirmed; 44 spaces (12 infant-toddler, 32 2.5 years to kindergarten), located on campus grounds

New Spaces Fund evaluation criteria

The intake for the 2021-22 ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund opened on Sept. 13, 2021, and closed on Nov. 16, 2021. Applications were evaluated against criteria set out in the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund guidelines to align with provincial priorities and with federal direction outlined in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement to focus on spaces that are run by public and non-profit institutions.

Priority areas for this intake included child care providers that will deliver on the creation of:

  • infant-toddler child care spaces
  • spaces serving priority populations including:
    • low-income families
    • children with support needs
    • Indigenous children and families
    • families new to Canada
    • young parents (25 years and younger)
    • Black and other children and families of colour
    • francophone children
  • spaces co-located with other community or family services, such as on school grounds (including K-12 and public post-secondary)
  • fully inclusive and accessible child care spaces that allow children of all abilities to participate meaningfully (i.e., accessible physical design and application of program inclusion policy)
  • projects with a provincial cost per space of $40,000 or less

The 2022-23 intake of the New Spaces Fund applications will open in spring/summer 2022.