Sechelt, in partnership with Gibsons and the Sunshine Coast Regional District, is getting a $67,150 provincial grant for child care planning.
The grants were announced late last week by Children and Family Development Minister Katrine Conroy. Seventy communities shared in the $3 million of funding.
The grant money will be used to create an inventory of existing child care spaces, identify how many child care spaces are needed now and how many will be needed over the coming years, as well as the type of child care required.
Local governments will use the information to draft an action plan to create new spaces and work with school districts, local health authorities, Indigenous partners and other key stakeholders and then share the plan with the ministry to help it decide on future provincial child care investments.
“These planning grants will help municipalities and regional districts assess their current child care circumstances and identify what local families will need over the next decade,” Conroy said. “Local governments know best the unique needs in their communities, and working together makes us stronger and better able to respond quickly.”
Local governments started laying the groundwork to apply for the grant late last year and agreed to let the District of Sechelt take the lead.
A report presented to Sechelt council on 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 whom they’re most needed, we need a regional inventory of spaces and needs, and a child care plan based on local priorities and needs.”
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said he welcomes the locally-focused approach.
“Planning the future of child care at the local level is a great way to ensure that families in our community can find child care when and where they need it,” said Simons. “No one can address the care shortage on their own. This funding will empower the Sunshine Coast to determine what child care looks like in our community, now and into the future.”
