The West Vancouver School District is set to construct a first-of-its-kind, purpose-built child care centre with space for 116 kiddos.
Under the federal and provincial Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the two senior levels of government are putting up $15 million to cover the capital costs of the 10,700-square foot building, which will house six classrooms and community space next to École Pauline Johnson Elementary.
“This is a huge deal,” said assistant superintendent Sandra-Lynn Shortall. “We suspect that there will be high demand for this. We’re going to create something that is quite exceptional.”
When it opens in 2025, there will be licensed spaces for 36 infants and toddlers, 50 kids aged 30 months to kindergarten, and 30 for school-aged kids.
“These new spots will make a significant difference for families in British Columbia, providing them with the flexibility and support they need while ensuring children have the best possible start in life,” said Jenna Sudds, Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. “We will keep working hard to create more spots to get kids off wait lists and into high-quality, affordable child care in their communities.”
B.C. pushes for child care options
School districts in B.C. have a directive from the Ministry of Education to expand both school-age and infant-toddler child care services and in 2021, District of West Vancouver council produced a child care action plan that established a target of 863 new spaces by 2031. The West Vancouver School District is the first one in the province to get all the necessary approvals and funding in place.
“So we are we’re innovating, and we’re stepping into that space,” Shortall said. “Hopefully it will alleviate and reduce wait lists.”
A yet-to-be specified percentage of spaces will be reserved for the children of employees in the West Vancouver School District, West Vancouver Police Department and West Vancouver Fire & Resue.
“We want to make sure that some of the people who are traveling multiple bridges to come and serve our community get a little bit of relief when it comes to some of that worry of child care for their own families,” Shortall said, adding that it might also help with recruiting and reattaining staff.
$10-a-day rates may follow
It will fall to the school district to cover the operational costs of centre. Monthly fees haven’t been set yet, but Shortall said rates will be on a cost-recovery basis on par with monthly child care costs around Metro Vancouver, at least at first. Once the centre is up in running, the school district will be eligible to apply for the province’s $10-per-day rate structure.
“As close as we can get to barrier reductions and universalizing child care for families, the better off everyone will be,” she said.
The building and outdoor play area will be sited on what is today, the western portion of the adjacent school’s grass sports field, fronting 22nd Street. Shortall said they have been careful to see that at least half of the existing greenspace is kept.
Because the building will use modular construction, the hope is to have the centre up and running in the fall of 2025.
The project does not need a vote by District of West Vancouver council to proceed, Shortall said, however the mayor and council members have been supportive.
Mayor Mark Sager issued a statement praising the project.
“(It) reinforces our commitment to supporting young families with convenient and high-quality services close to home,” he said.
Shortall acknowledged that not everyone might be thrilled at the idea of a new child care facilty coming to the neighbourhood but she stressed the project will bring significant benefits to an area of acute need.
“The bottom line is, the research has been done in our community,” she said. “There’s no doubt that child care is a vital part of the community infrastructure, the social infrastructure, and there is need here in West Vancouver. So, creating new space to ensure that our youngest children have the best possible start during those critical early years is a shared community priority.”
