NORTH VANCOUVER – Local families in North Vancouver will soon be able to access 40 new licensed child-care spaces thanks to a $500,000 investment through the Province’s Child Care Major Capital Funding Program, announced New Democrat MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, Bowinn Ma.

“Like all areas of the province, finding child-care in North Vancouver can be difficult due to years of neglect from the previous government.  This increase will make a difference to local families but it’s also just the start of what will be a very aggressive child-care strategy.”

This funding, provided to the Squamish Nation’s Mother Bear Child Development Program, will create 40 child-care spaces including 8 for children under 36 months, 16 for children aged 3-5 and 16 for school aged children.

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.