Local governments on the Sunshine Coast are applying for grant money to create a Coast-wide child care plan.
Councils in Sechelt and Gibsons endorsed the project last week, and the Sunshine Coast Regional District Board is expected to do the same early in the new year.
The community child care planning program is offering up to $25,000 for each local government involved in creating a plan. The local project has a budget of $67,150.
The District of Sechelt is taking the lead and a report from community planner Marina Stjepovic presented Dec. 19 said, “Planning for child care on the Sunshine Coast has been ad hoc over the years, relying on informal conversations and piecemeal studies by local organizations and advocates... In order to create spaces where and for who they’re most needed, we need a regional inventory of spaces and needs, and a child care plan based on local priorities and needs.”
Mayor Darnelda Siegers said they see the need for childcare right at municipal hall.
“We have had some of our staff go off on maternity leave at the district and then not be able to come back because they can’t find daycare. It is a need all up and down the Coast for every business.”
Gibsons chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado is the Town’s representative on the group of government staff people working on the project. He told councillors at their Dec. 18 meeting that having a plan in place will open up more opportunities to take advantage of provincial and federal funding for child care spaces.
