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.

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. 

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
			347	$329,195

 

Child Care Capital Grants – New Spaces 

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

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
		143	$311,040

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. 

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