The Comox Valley is receiving $75,000 to assess local child care spaces.
The money is part of a $3-million provincial investment to enable local governments to conduct inventories of child care spaces, to determine the type of care required, and to assess current and future needs. Action plans will be drafted in conjunction with school districts, health authorities, Indigenous partners and other stakeholders. Information will be fed to the Ministry of Children and Family Development to inform future investment.
The local inventory will be a partnership between Courtenay, Comox and the regional district.
“I think that’s one of the unique opportunities that we have here,” Courtenay-Comox MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard said. “The regional district has recently set up a child care committee to look at this matter, so we’re well positioned to make good use of this $75,000 here in the Valley.
“It’s new money,” she added. “We’re making big changes. We have other programs to make investments in, creating those spaces. We need to have that local input on what’s needed.”
The ministry will consider the diversity of need for child care, be it age-related, children with challenges or parents who juggle shift work with child care.
“I think we have an opportunity to grow our workforce by having a robust child care system in place,” Leonard said. “All in the vein of making life better for people.”
