B.C. funds about 1,200 new before- and after-school spaces across 22 school districts
School districts across British Columbia will open roughly 1,200 new licensed before- and after-school child care spaces over the next year under a capital funding program announced August 31 by Education and Child Care Minister Lisa Beare. The Ministry of Infrastructure has budgeted $5 million to renovate and repurpose existing space inside schools, shared across 22 school districts, with nearly 200 of the new spaces going to Nanaimo.
A further $2 million covers startup costs such as staff training and small equipment, $20 million supports operating costs over three years, and a separate $2.9-million fund opens this fall for board-operated school-age programs. Families using the new programs will have access to the provincial Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative.
The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. called the school-based approach a step in the right direction but a small one: the $10 a Day Child Care Campaign estimates only 12 per cent of B.C. families can currently access before- and after-school care, and that nearly 200,000 spaces would be needed for universal access.
