VICTORIA – Local families in Mid Island – Pacific Rim will soon be able to access 89 new licensed child-care spaces thanks to a more than $1.1 million investment through the Province’s Child Care Major Capital Funding Program, announced New Democrat MLA for Mid Island – Pacific Rim, Scott Fraser.

“The first step towards improving access to child-care spaces and keeping our promise to implement universal child care in B.C. is to accelerate the creation of quality, licensed spaces throughout the province,” said MLA Fraser. “These 89 new spaces will help a lot of families in Mid Island – Pacific Rim.”

This investment includes $500,000 to the Qualicum First Nation After School Care Centre in Qualicum Beach, $500,000 to the Qwayaciik?iis Daycare in Hitacu, and $166,500 to the Wee Care Early Childhood Centre at Royston Elementary. Altogether the investment will create the 89 new child-care spaces in Mid Island – Pacific Rim.

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.