There will be 25 new licensed childcare spaces in Mission.
The provincial government is funding the additional spaces through its BC Early Years Strategy.
Bloom Childcare Centre and Fine Arts preschool will receive $21,000 in capital funding to renovate to add 25 spaces for children between the ages of three and five.
“It is important that parents have more options and access good quality daycare,” said Maple-Ridge Mission MLA Marc Dalton. “This funding will help ensure that families in Mission have the support they need.”
These 25 new licensed childcare spaces are part of the provincial government’s commitment to support the creation of more than 1,000 new spaces by March 2015.
This investment marks the first phase of the provincial government’s Child-Care Major Capital Funding roll out, and will allow child-care providers to:
• Build a new child care facility, including the cost of buying land or a building.
• Assemble a modular building and develop a site.
• Renovate an existing building.
• Buy eligible equipment (including playground equipment) and furnishings to support new child-care spaces in an existing facility.
The provincial government is now in the process of working with the childcare 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.
Construction and renovations for the new spaces are expected to begin by March 2015.
In addition to these 1,000 new spaces, the provincial government aims to support the creation of a further 1,000 spaces by March 2016 under its B.C. Early Years Strategy. This builds on the approximately 107,000 spaces that government currently supports throughout the province.
Applications for the next phase of child care major capital funding will start early in 2015. Interested child care providers can visit www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/childcare/major_capital.htm for more information.
