More families in Chilliwack are benefiting from increased access to new child care centres on school grounds with more than 130 new spaces opening in time for the return to school.

“We’re continuing to create new child care spaces and find new ways to deliver the spaces that families need most,” said Dan Coulter, MLA for Chilliwack. “Child care on school grounds makes life easier for families by providing one convenient location for busy parents. By reducing dropoff and pickup locations, families are spending less time in traffic and more time on the things that matter most.”

Chilliwack School District (SD33) is opening 102 new before- and after-school child care spaces. The new spaces are being created with $720,000 from the Ministry of Education and Child Care over two years for a new initiative, which uses existing school space, as well as school district resources and staff, to provide before- and after-school care without additional pickups and dropoffs.

“The Chilliwack School District appreciates government’s ongoing commitment to expanding child care spaces on school grounds,” said Willow Reichelt, chair, SD33. “This is aligned with our district’s vision of providing a continuum of care that is inclusive, accessible and reliable. The partnership with the Province has helped us make significant progress toward our goal of providing before- and after-school care in every Chilliwack elementary school by 2025.”

The new child care spaces at Greendale, Sardis and Unsworth elementary schools are using existing, shared spaces in the schools. The district also benefited from more than $202,000 through the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund to transform the school spaces into accessible, licensed child care spaces.

“Families in Chilliwack are juggling work, home life and many other priorities, so these convenient, new child care spaces mean one less thing for busy parents to worry about,” said Kelli Paddon, MLA for Chilliwack-Kent. “Children attending these local schools move from class time into child care in familiar spaces, and parents know they are safe and well cared for. I’m proud that our government is providing Chilliwack families with more options for child care that meets their needs.”

The new program will be evaluated with the goal of expanding it to other districts, helping more families in the province.

“Just in time for the back-to-school season, these new child care spots will make dropoffs and pickups that much easier for busy moms and dads on the go,” said Jenna Sudds, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. “We will keep working hard to create more spots to get kids off wait lists and into high-quality, affordable child care close to home.”

In addition to the new school-age child care, the district received more than $206,000 through the New Spaces Fund to create 32 new child care spaces at Cultus Lake Community School, including 16 spaces for children 30 months to kindergarten age and 16 additional school-age spaces. This funding is 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.

With the new facilities, families benefit from affordable child care fees through the Province’s fee-reduction program, which reduces the cost of child care by as much as $900 per child per month.

“I am so grateful that the district has started before- and after-school care for my daughter at Vedder Elementary,” said Leanna Mitchell, parent. “I’m a single parent, and without it, I would be unable to work. There are such long wait lists at every daycare with school pickup that I’m not sure what I would have done without this program.”

Since 2018, ChildCareBC’s accelerated space-creation programs have helped fund the creation of more than 39,000 new licensed child care spaces in B.C. Of these, more than 11,900 are in part due to the 2021-22 to 2025-26 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

Quotes:

Kirk Savage, assistant superintendent, SD33 –

“The child care funding support we are receiving from the Ministry of Education and Child Care is not only having a positive impact on supporting children and families, but is also a nod to the groundbreaking work that our staff is doing, showing that sustainable, affordable and high-quality child care programming is possible in our province.”

Tracey O’Hara, president of CUPE 411 –

“We are excited to be delivering integrated before- and after-school care at public schools in Chilliwack. This model offers safe and reliable care for kids, creates full-time employment that allows school support staff to provide for their families, and a much-needed time-saving high-quality child care option for parents. I am proud of the collaboration between CUPE and the school district that made this possible, and I hope this will be successful solution to a problem facing Chilliwack families.”

Learn More: 

For 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

For more information on the Affordable Child Care Benefit, visit: https://www.gov.bc.ca/affordablechildcarebenefit