The B.C. government hopes to free up British Columbians' time by investing in hundreds of new licensed child care spaces, more than 450 of which are expected to open by the end of the year.
On Friday (May 21), the province announced 11 projects will receive support to create 681 new licensed child care spaces in Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler. Vancouver will be receiving the lion’s share of new childcare spaces at 344; North Vancouver is to receive 181, West Vancouver 96, Squamish 37, and Whistler 23.
“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 in a media release. “These new licensed child care spaces coming to Vancouver build on our commitment to create a universal child care system.”
In addition, 32 other projects have received funding in these communities since the launch of Childcare BC in July 2018. In total, 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.
Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care says as the province enters the fourth year of the 10-year Childcare BC plan, many are feeling the impacts of the program
“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,” said Chen.
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.
