BC Government: $62 Million for New Child Care Spaces
Photo by hoylee song
A recent press release from the government of British Columbia announced a $62 million investment to create 750 new licensed child care spaces throughout B.C.
The new spaces are being created through the accelerated space-creation programs currently in operation. Once operational, these spaces will be eligible for the province’s fee reduction program.
The release also announced that, effective as of March 2025, 770 new $10-a-day spaces will open at 22 child care centres throughout B.C., including in Surrey, Parksville and Williams Lake. The government noted the aim was “to prioritize new $10 a-day facilities in communities that do not yet have access to the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program and/or providers who serve low-income areas”.
A backgrounder included with the release also notes:
In addition to the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program, the federal and provincial governments are helping families with the cost of child care through:
Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative: families representing more than 138,000 children under the age of 12 are saving as much as $900 a month, per child;
The Affordable Child Care Benefit (ACCB): the program provides up to $1,250 a month to families who make as much as $111,000 per year. ACCB can be combined with either the fee reductions or the $10-a-day program, which can drop fees as low as $0.
British Columbia has signed five-year extensions to the Canada-British Columbia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement and to the Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, worth more than $5 billion total, which includes the fourth and final year (2026-2027) of the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund.
Funding provided to British Columbia will increase by 3% every year for four years, starting in fiscal year 2027-28, ensuring the early-learning and child care system remains sustainable over the duration of the agreements, while providing flexibility for British Columbia to respond to inflationary pressures.
The 22 additional child care centre are located in the following communities:
Black Creek: Pumpkin Patch Nursery School (24 spaces)
Burnaby: Little Eagles Childcare - Centre for Excellence (37 spaces)
Castlegar: Castlegar & District Kids’ Club (25 spaces)
Cawston: Cawston Primary Preschool (16 spaces)
Charlie Lake: Little Critters Daycare (8 spaces)
Christina Lake: Little Lakes Learning Centre (8 spaces)
Madeira Park: Serendipity Child Care Centre (13 spaces)
Mansons Landing: Cortes Island Playschool (28 spaces)
Parksville: Parksville Child and Family Centre (111 spaces)
Peachland: Peachland Childcare Inc. (8 spaces)
Penticton: Edmonton Ave, Child Care Centre (112 spaces)
Quesnel: Cheeky Monkey’s Daycare (7 spaces)
Sorrento: Sorrento Preschool (20 spaces)
Surrey: Al-Mustafa Junior Kindergarten (20 spaces); Communication Stars Specialized Childcare (12 spaces); Fraser Heights Recreation Centre (72 spaces)
Tofino: Community Children’s Centre (18 spaces)
Trail: Sunshine Children’s Centre (26 spaces)
Ucluelet: Ucluelet Children’s Centre (80 spaces)
Vancouver: Kids at G.F. Strong Child Development Centre (40 spaces)
Vernon: Okanagan Boys and Girls Club-Lakes Club (36 spaces)
Williams Lake: Maranatha Minis Daycare (49 spaces)
Additional spaces opening at existing centres include the following communities: Clearwater (13 spaces), Creston (110 spaces), Dawson Creek - Nawican Friendship Centre (44 spaces), Duncan (36 spaces), Fort St. John (24 spaces), Hope - Chawathil First Nation (48 spaces), Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society (33 spaces), Langford (73 spaces), Langley (24 spaces), Nelson (24 spaces), North Vancouver (37 spaces), Penticton (33 spaces), Prince George (33 spaces), Qualicum (75 spaces), Savona - Skeetchestn First Nation (81 spaces), Sik-E-Dakh [Glen Vowell First Nation] (37 spaces), UBC (37 spaces).