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.
The full list of projects approved for funding is below.
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Child Care Capital Grants – Energy ImprovementsÂ
These projects support the energy conservation and efficiency of child care centres to enhance their quality, retention and sustainability.Â
| Community | Organization | Description |  Improved  Spaces | Amount |
| Castlegar | Blueberry Creek Early Learning Centre | Install energy recovery ventilation, heat pump hot water heater, high-efficiency furnaces, LED lighting, occupancy sensors and a solar photovoltaic array. | 60 | $98,840 |
| Castlegar | Kootenay Family Place – Hobbit Hill Children’s Centre | Replace windows, install LED lighting, a high-efficiency furnace and occupancy sensors. | 20 | $18,860 |
| Castlegar | USSC Children’s Orchard Preschool | Install LED lighting and a high-efficiency heating, ventilation and cooling system. | 15 | $16,960 |
| Cranbrook | Summit Community Services – Little Summit Daycare | Replace doors and windows, install ERV, LED lighting, occupancy sensors, and a solar PV array. | 32 | $52,850 |
| Creston | Kootenai Community Centre Society Teddy Bear Daycare | Upgrade attic insulation, replace windows, install LED lighting, heat pump and occupancy sensors. | 25 | $19,780 |
| Nelson | Nelson Waldorf School Childcare Centre | Install a heat pump hot water heater. | 24 | $2,400 |
| Trail | Sunningdale Children’s Centre | Replace window, install a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting and occupancy sensors. | 137 | $52,705 |
| Trail | Trail and District Daycare Society – Sunshine Children’s Centre | Install an ERV, high-efficiency furnace, LED lighting, occupancy sensors and a solar PV array. | 26 | $35,320 |
| Winlaw | Appledale Daycare Society | Upgrade attic insulation, replace door, install LED lighting, heat pump and install a solar PV array. | 8 | $31,480 |
| 347Â | $329,195 | |||
Child Care Capital Grants – New SpacesÂ
These projects support the creation of new licensed child care spaces within the Columbia Basin. Â
| Community | Organization | # New  Spaces | Amount |
| Elkford | Alpine Childcare Solutions | 48 | $20,000 |
| Elkford | Elkford Child Development Society | 30 | $20,000 |
| Fernie | Bright Beginnings: A Community Preschool | 9 | $11,875 |
| Fruitvale | Village of Fruitvale | 37 | $250,000 |
| Proctor | Seonaid (Erin) Christopherson | 2 | $1,000 |
| Revelstoke | Caribou Kids Ltd. | 8 | $3,165 |
| Wilmer | Columbia River Valley Rural Roots Society | 9 | $5,000 |
| 143Â | $311,040 | ||
Early Childhood Educators SupportÂ
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.Â
| Community | Project Name | Description | Amount |
| Basin-Wide | Early Childhood Educator Training Wage Program | Provides a training wage to 50 early childhood educator assistants and certified early childhood educators to date, employed by licensed child care facilities in the Columbia Basin, to support them to complete and/or upgrade their early childhood educator qualifications. | $601,330 |
| Basin-Wide | Early Childhood Educator Wage Subsidy Program | Provides a wage subsidy to support the recruitment and retention of 234 early childhood educators employed by licensed child care facilities in the region. | $1,125,010 |
| $1,726,340 | |||
