Columbia Basin Trust puts up $2.4 million for child care

Child care providers across the Kootenays are getting a boost from Columbia Basin Trust to increase access to child care and make improvements to their facilities by expanding the number of spaces, strengthening their workforce and making their buildings more energy efficient.

“Everyday, child care providers and early childhood educators help families care for their children and create early learning environments that are essential for healthy development,” Nicole MacLellan, delivery of benefits manager with the Trust said in a news release.

“Having access to quality and affordable care enables parents to work, supports businesses to retain employees, and helps our communities thrive, all of which we heard are important to Basin residents.”

The Trust offers a variety of supports to help child care providers create and maintain accessible and affordable spaces in the area, and recruit and retain qualified early childhood educators. The Trust is providing $2.4 million to:

• help create 143 new child care spaces
• improve the energy efficiency of 347 existing spaces
• enhance the wages of 234 early childhood educators
• provide a training wage to 50 early childhood educators and early childhood educator assistants to complete or upgrade their qualifications.

Adding spaces in Fruitvale

With funding from both the Trust and the Province of BC, the Village of Fruitvale is building the Beaver Valley Child Care Centre on the site of the former Beaver Valley Middle School.

The Trust also provided support during the development stages of this project. The new centre will add 37 child care spaces and help meet the critical need for child care in Fruitvale and the area. The centre, which will be operated by the Beaver Valley Nursery School, is expected to open in the summer 2023.

“The Beaver Valley Child Care Centre aims to assist all families — including the parents of children requiring extra support, Indigenous residents, vulnerable populations, newcomers to Canada and young parents — so that they can attend work and school and do other important tasks,” said Kelli Tuttle, the village’s chief administrative officer.

“It will seek to develop self-confidence and self-esteem in the children, and social and emotional skills that lead to future success.”

Targeting energy efficiency in Cranbrook

In Cranbrook, Summit Community Services is improving the energy efficiency of the 32-space Little Summit Daycare. Improvements include replacing the front door and windows, installing an energy recovery ventilator, LED lighting, occupancy sensors and solar panels.

“We are excited to be going forward with the renovations for energy improvements over the coming months,” says manager Tara Long. “The improvements will make the building more energy efficient, lower our operating costs, and provide more comfort for the children.”

Aiming for lower energy consumption in Creston

In Creston, the Kootenai Community Centre Society is improving the energy efficiency and consumption of the 25-space Teddy Bear Daycare. Activities include upgrading the attic insulation, replacing windows, installing LED lighting, adding a high efficiency heat pump, and installing occupancy sensors.

“The increased efficiency also means lower costs for the organization, which relies solely on parent fees and small grants to operate. We are so grateful for these much-needed improvements,” says executive director Rebecca Gidney. “These upgrades will also promote an updated, more comfortable, improved environment for the children in our care.”

The full list of projects approved for funding is below.

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Child Care Capital Grants – Energy Improvements 

These projects support the energy conservation and efficiency of child care centres to enhance their  quality, retention and sustainability. 

Child Care Capital Grants – New Spaces 

These projects support the creation of new licensed child care spaces within the Columbia Basin.  

Early Childhood Educators Support 

These programs help address the shortage of Early Childhood Educators (ECE) by supporting the  recruitment and retention of ECEs in the Basin by providing training and wage subsidies for licensed  child care facilities; both are administered by the College of the Rockies.