By Oli Herrera

MORE LICENSED CHILD CARE SPACES

182 new licensed child care space coming to centers in Prince George

May 21, 2021 | 5:19 PM

PRINCE GEORGE–The province is investing in 182 new licensed child care spaces in Prince George and over 75 of those will be open by September 2021. It’s part of Childcare BC’s 10 year plan and it’s to help ease the burden on parents and families.

Six centers across the city will be getting these new spaces. They are:

1. Aboriginal Housing Society Family Care Centre (40 spaces)
2. Carrier Sekani Family Services Daycare (38 spaces)
3. Lheidli T’enneh Childcare Centre (75 spaces)
4. Malaspina Childcare with YMCA (nine spaces)
5. Nukko Lake Childcare (10 spaces)
6. Quinson Childcare with Big Brothers Big Sisters (10 spaces)

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The Lheidli T’enneh Childcare center is getting the largest numbers of space with 75 expected to be ready by March of 2022.

“We’re really excited about this partnership and this project. There’s a huge shortage of licensed childcare spaces in BC. Only about 20% of kids have a licensed space and child care so it just makes sense that we partnered with Lheidli T’enneh.” said Robyn Curtis, VP of Development and Partnerships, Exploration Place.

The Lheidli T’enneh and Exploration place are partnering up together to build a new facility for the 75 spaces. Which includes 24 for infants and toddlers, 25 for kid aged 3 to 5, and 26 for school-aged kids. Curtis says demand for childcare has always been high and now they’ll be able to meet that demand from parents.

“Our programs were always fully subscribed at the exploration place and we always had a waitlist going, so there’s a definite need here in Prince George.” said Curtis.

Other childcare center spaces such as the Malaspina childcare center which is partnered with the YMCA says they’re excited they can take in more kids and help families outside of the school district.

“We’ll be moving into a shared space and I think that we’re super excited to help meet community needs for parents for after school care here at Malaspina and we know the need is high.” said Lynette Mikalishen Director, Childcare Services Northern BC YMCA

Malaspina Elementary is receiving the funding from the province which would also support some minor renovations. The space is shared between the school and the YMCA but the center only uses it for its afterschool program. Both centers say that this is a great move forward for kids and families and that meeting this demand is a move forward for childcare service in BC.