The province announced more than $1 million in grants for local governments to do an inventory on child care spaces recently. (Province of B.C. photo)

The province announced more than $1 million in grants for local governments to do an inventory on child care spaces recently. (Province of B.C. photo)

Chilliwack to survey child-care needs of families and caregivers

With provincial funding help, an inventory of child care spaces will soon be underway in Chilliwack

City officials want to hear about the child care needs of Chilliwack families and caregivers.

An action plan to create child care spaces is being developed by City of Chilliwack, with provincial funding, in order to “address the struggle families in Chilliwack are facing when attempting to find available and appropriate child care.”

“The purpose of the plan is to produce an inventory of existing child care spaces, to collect information regarding child care needs in the community, to set goals for the creation of additional child care spaces over the next 10 years and to identify actions which can be taken by various stakeholders to meet those goals,” according to the city notice about the action plan.

Extensive community engagement is being designed to give anyone who is facing challenges with child care an opportunity to voice concerns and provide suggestions. Consultation will take the form of a survey, small group discussions or one-on-one interviews.

A steering committee made up of local members of the child care community has been created to help define the overall vision of the project, create innovative and inclusive engagement activities targeting all members of the community and to provide suggestions on ways to achieve the goals laid out in the plan.

A survey to gauge public opinion is set up online at chilliwack.com, with a chance for people to enter a draw for a prize. Details are on the last page of the survey.

Take the survey here

Anyone interested in participating in a group discussion can contact the Planning Department at: planning@chilliwack.com, and include their availability for meeting.

For more details contact the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Department at 604.793.2906.

The project is expected to be complete by March 2020.


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Chilliwack Progress