Families in Greater Victoria will soon have access to 439 new child care spaces, the provincial government announced Tuesday.
The spaces will be added at six elementary schools across Victoria and funded through a $4.6-million investment.
Each of the facilities will be accessible and offer inclusive care for kids with extra support needs.
"Victoria parents have been calling out for more licensed child care spaces," education minister Rob Fleming said in a statement. "It's great to see the school district working in partnership with non-profits to deliver child care on school grounds, as it gives families access to quality child care and additional wraparound services at one convenient location."
Several non-profits are partnering with the Greater Victoria School District to offer services like counselling, healthy food and clothing for vulnerable families who take advantage of the new spaces.
The new spaces are the first to be announced through the Childcare BC New Spaces Fund. Under the fund, schools that partner with non-profits to offer child care spaces are eligible for up to $1-million per facility.
The six schools getting the added spaces will be:
- Doncaster Elementary – 66 spaces
- Frank Hobbs Elementary – 85 spaces
- Macaulay Elementary – 37 spaces
- Tillicum Elementary – 91 spaces
- Victoria West Elementary – 57 spaces
- Willows Elementary – 103 spaces
In all, the schools will be getting 16 spaces for infants and toddlers under 30 months of age, 72 spaces for children 30 months to school age, 28 spaces for preschool kids, and 323 spaces for school-age children.
It comes a few weeks after the provincial government said it would test $10-a-day child care at 53 prototype facilities around the province, including eight on Vancouver Island.
