VICTORIA – Local families in Courtenay will soon be able to access 38 new licensed child-care spaces thanks to a $250,000 investment through the Province’s Child Care Major Capital Funding Program, announced New Democrat MLA for Courtenay – Comox, Ronna-Rae Leonard.

“Parents have been telling me it’s becoming increasingly difficult to access affordable, quality child care when they need it,” said MLA Leonard. “These new spaces will make a difference to local families, and that’s important.”

This investment is for the Wee Care Centre at Valley View Elementary, and will create the 38 new child-care spaces in Courtenay.

This investment will allow child-care providers to:

• Build a new child-care facility, including the cost of buying land or a building.
• Purchase and assemble a modular building and develop a site.
• Renovate an existing building.
• Buy eligible equipment (including playground equipment) and furnishings as part of the above activities to support new child-care spaces in an existing facility.

The Province is now in the process of working with child-care providers to sign project agreements that include the specific requirements that providers have identified for each site, such as the need to lease or buy property, obtain local zoning permits and hire contractors to renovate the sites.

Accelerating the creation of new child-care spaces is part of the B.C. government’s commitment to improve accessibility for families and supports its long-term goal of implementing universal child care in B.C. For more information, please visit: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare.