NELSON – Families in Nelson will soon be able to access 18 new licensed child-care spaces thanks to a $24,375 investment through the Province’s Child Care Major Capital Funding Program, announced Michelle Mungall, MLA for Nelson-Creston.
“Our community needs more quality childcare spaces, and we are starting to get them,” said Mungall. “This is just a first step on the way to creating universal and affordable child care throughout the province.”
The Uphill School House Early Care and Learning Centre will receive the funding to create 18 spaces in Nelson. Throughout the province, $33 million is being provided for 103 projects, which will allow child-care providers to create 3,806 new licensed child-care spaces.
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.