FILE PHOTO

Image Credit: PEXELS/cottonbro

The province is creating 240 new childcare spaces in throughout the Okanagan.

Four child care providers in Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton will open the spaces thanks to funding from the provincial and federal governments, according to a release from B.C.’s Ministry of Education and Child Care.

One of the childcare centres will be at Okanagan College campus in Vernon. The facility, which has not yet been named, will have 44 spaces including 12 for infants and toddlers, and 32 dedicated for children aged 2.5 years to kindergarten.

"Okanagan College strives to strengthen the social resiliency of our communities. Childcare spaces at the Vernon campus will make a significant impact on the lives of our students and support inclusive access to education for our learners," Neil Fassina, president of Okanagan College, said in the release.

Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Monashee, said in the release that adding "even more" childcare spaces will help working parents to save money. 

READ MORE: 'Huge need' remains for childcare in the Central Okanagan

"Our government is continuing to work hard to reverse decades of inaction and help families find affordable care options," Sandhu said. "These new spaces will provide a dependable and affordable service to Okanagan parents, so they can work on their career or advance their education, supporting our local economy and helping address the labour shortage."

Eighty-six childcare spaces will be added to YWCA Child Care at the Kelowna airport. There will be 12 more spaces for infants and toddlers, 25 for children 2.5 years old to kindergarten, 24 for school age kids and 25 multi-age spaces.

Penticton will be getting 110 new spaces at two facilities. One, which has not yet been named, will be located at the hospital. It will have 20 spaces for infants and toddlers, 32 for kids 2.5 years old to kindergarten, and eight multi-age spaces.

The other one will be at Columbia Elementary and have 34 school-age spaces.

"For years, parents in B.C. were left with a patchwork system where childcare was treated as a luxury," Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care said in the release. "As we enter the fifth year of our 10-year ChildCareBC plan, we are making significant progress to reverse this,"

The funding comes through ChildCareBC. Since it launched in 2018, the province calculates that parents in Kelowna and Penticton have saved a combined $39 million and $9 million, respectively.

READ MORE: Addressing chronic childcare challenges is a big job in the Okanagan

To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022