Burnaby should have three new child-care centres with a total of 124 new licensed spaces by January 2020, thanks in part to $2.25 million from the provincial government.
The City of Burnaby is getting $2 million to help build two of the centres with the school district at Capitol Hill and Montecito elementary schools.
The new centres, to be run by local non-profit organizations, will create 50 new spaces for children aged three years to kindergarten age.
They should be ready to go by January 2020, according to an announcement Tuesday.
Another new centre is being opened by Organic Early Learning at the corner of Sixth Street and Graham Avenue as early as this summer.
Organic Early Learning is getting $250,000 to open the facility, which will feature 24 spaces for infants and toddlers and 50 spaces for school-aged children.
“Organic Early Learning was founded by a group of parents and educators who came together based on a common passion for wholesome child care. We are absolutely delighted at the thought of connecting children, families and communities on the path to a bright future,” co-founder Calvin Tse said in a press release. “We are very grateful for the support from the Province of B.C.”
The new Organic Early Learning centre aims to connect children to nature through its early childhood education curriculum, according a news release.
The centre will also offer a buddy system to help connect families new to Canada to their community. Hot meals will be included in the cost of care, and take-home meals will be available to vulnerable families.
“Burnaby is one of the fastest-growing communities in B.C.,” said Burnaby-Lougheed MLA Katrina Chen, minister of state for child care, “and these three new centres will help parents who have been struggling to find quality child care to rejoin the workforce or go back to school, knowing that their children are being well cared for in quality programs.”
Money for the new centres is coming from the province’s Childcare BC New Spaces Fund.
Child care providers can apply to receive grants from the fund at any time throughout the year under a new continuous application process.
For more information, visit www.gov.bc.ca/childcare.
