There will be 60 new child care spaces created on the Sunshine Coast thanks to a partnership between the YMCA of Greater Vancouver, School District No. 46 (SD46) and $646,860 in funding from the provincial government.
In May child care providers were asked to apply for major capital funding for new facilities through the provincial government in an effort to address the need for more child care spaces in B.C.
The YMCA of Greater Vancouver, which is a provider of many child care programs, applied on behalf of the Sunshine Coast and was recently awarded funding for two projects.
One project is to create 36 child care spaces at the new Gibsons Elementary School (12 infant/toddler and 24 spaces for kids aged three to five) at a cost of $500,000. The other is to create 24 spaces (eight infant/toddler and 16 for children aged three to five) at the Sechelt Learning Centre at a cost of $146,860.
“As the largest provider of child care in Western Canada, the YMCA is excited to open the Gibsons YMCA Child Care Centre and the Sechelt YMCA Child Care Centre to fill a high need for quality care on the Sunshine Coast,” said Lisa Stiver, general manager of camps and youth engagement for the YMCA of Greater Vancouver.
“We thank the Ministry of Children and Family Development for this opportunity. We also want to thank local agencies like the Early Childhood Planning Table and the Child Care Action Team for their ongoing support in the YMCA’s work on the Sunshine Coast as well as School District 46 — our partner for both of these new centres.”
School board chair Betty Baxter praised the partnership when speaking about the projects at the Nov. 18 school board meeting.
“It’s a big victory that probably wouldn’t have happened had we not been in touch with the needs of the community from the partnerships in the community,” said Baxter.
The Sechelt child care spaces are not expected to open until the renovations are complete, in about a year’s time, Baxter said, but the Gibsons site should be open in early 2015.
