BC Schools Add 1,200 New Child Care Spaces Across 22 Districts

British Columbia is moving to turn more classrooms and school spaces into before- and after-school child care, announcing about 1,200 new licensed spaces at public schools across 22 school districts.

The spaces are expected to open within the next year, with the province framing the expansion as a way to make child care easier to reach for families already dropping children off at school.

School-based child care expands

Education and Child Care Minister Lisa Beare announced the program in Nanaimo on Monday, saying school grounds are a practical place to build out care for younger students outside regular classroom hours.

“Before and after school can be a hectic time for parents and caregivers,” Beare said. “By creating more child care on school grounds, we are giving more families access to convenient, high-quality child care, in places they already know and trust.”

The B.C. government says the new licensed spaces will be created by renovating and repurposing existing school areas, rather than building entirely new facilities. A $5-million capital program from the Ministry of Infrastructure will fund that work.

The province is also putting $20 million over three years toward operating costs for the new programs, plus $2 million for startup costs. A separate $2.9-million fund will support additional school-age child-care programs.

Nanaimo gets major local increase

Nanaimo-Ladysmith Public Schools is set to add 183 before- and after-school spaces at eight elementary schools, bringing its school-based child-care total to about 500 spaces.

Local school board chair Leanne Lee said the additional spaces matter for families trying to balance work and caregiving before and after the school day. She also pointed to the benefit of keeping children in a familiar setting.

“Child care on school grounds also allows children to have continuity throughout their day by staying in the same location,” Lee said.

For parents, that continuity can be more than an administrative convenience. Mitchell Brook, a parent who spoke at the Nanaimo announcement, described the service as a source of stability for his family.

“For a parent, the continuity for our child has been quite remarkable,” Brook said. “As a parent, I’m glad to see that it’s expanding.”

Fee reductions will apply

Families using the new programs will have access to provincial child-care fee reductions. For school-age care, costs will be eligible to fall by as much as $320 per child per month.

That affordability piece is central to how the province is positioning the expansion. The spaces are not only meant to be closer to where children already spend their day, but also tied into existing provincial measures intended to reduce monthly child-care bills.

The province says nearly 52,000 child-care spaces are now located on school grounds in B.C. That represents a 61 per cent increase since ChildCareBC launched in 2018.

School boards gain bigger role

The new funding follows changes under the School Amendment Act that expanded school boards’ ability to operate child-care programs.

Beare said the goal is to make school districts more active partners in child care by allowing them to use existing child-centred spaces for before- and after-school programming.

“Empowering school districts to repurpose existing child-centred spaces for before- and after-school care is another important piece of a child care system that works for families, kids and communities,” she said.

For families across the 22 districts, the practical test will come over the next year as school-based programs open and parents look for spaces that fit their schedules, budgets and children’s routines.

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