Renovations at the Terrace Sportsplex have transformed a multipurpose room into 30 before- and after-school child care spaces for school-aged children allowing parents to pursue work, school and other opportunities.

“These new spaces in the growing community of Terrace provide families with affordable, high-quality and inclusive child care,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Finance on behalf of Mitzi Dean, Minister of State for Child Care. “We’re training more early childhood educators and taking action to improve access to reliable child care because we know how life-changing it is for families.”

Renovations to create a kitchen area, upgrade fixtures and furnishings, and create an outdoor play space with a climbing feature were made possible through nearly $390,000 from the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund. The fund is jointly supported by provincial investments and federal funding under the 2021-22 to 2025-26 Canada-British Columbia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

Through the 2020 Child Care Needs Assessment, parents in Terrace indicated the sportsplex in the Horseshoe area as a preferred location for new child care spaces. The City of Terrace can provide child care services with programs tailored to meet the needs of all priority populations, a process informed by the greater child care provider community in Terrace, including input from the Kermode Friendship Society, Gitlaxdax Nisga'a Terrace Society and area knowledge keepers.

“With the help of provincial funding, the City of Terrace is pleased to be able to help ease the strain on both existing child care providers and local families,” said Sean Bujtas, mayor, Terrace. “This is a new venture for us and results have been very positive. We are grateful for the funding provided by the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund that helped us get the program up and running successfully, and we look forward to further developing the programming we can offer to help more families with their unique child care needs.”

The spaces are licensed for as many as 31 school-aged children, including five-year-olds as required by the federal-provincial agreement.

“The city’s before- and after-school program has changed my children’s attitude on daycare,” said Rachel Gull, parent of two children attending the program. “They both never want to leave. They love the wide range of activities it offers, from cooking, art and crafts, and science experiments to skating and the many other opportunities this centre offers. It has made life a lot easier for all of us. I am so grateful for this amazing program.”

Since 2018, ChildCareBC accelerated space creation programs have helped fund the creation of more than 34,000 new licensed child care spaces in B.C., with more than 350 of these in Terrace and surrounding areas. Funding the creation of new child care spaces is part of the Province’s plan to build access to affordable, quality, inclusive child care as a core service families can rely on.

The Province and the Government of Canada invested more than $260 million in 2023 to fund the creation of new licensed child care spaces in high-need areas throughout B.C.

Learn More:

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

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