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Just in time for the return to school, more families in the Nanaimo region are benefiting from an initiative creating new child care spaces on school grounds.
“We’ve been taking action to help people in Nanaimo, like funding new before- and after-school spaces to make life easier and more affordable for families,” said Sheila Malcolmson, MLA for Nanaimo. “Just in time for back to school, we’ve opened 96 licensed before- and after-school child care spaces at four schools to help working families.”
School District 68 (Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools) has opened 96 licensed before- and after-school child care spaces throughout the district, funded by $720,000 from the Ministry of Education. The spaces are part of a new initiative that uses existing school space, as well as school district resources and staff, to provide before- and after-school care without additional pickups and dropoffs.
“We are grateful to the Province for supporting the creation of these additional after-school child care spaces in our district,” said Greg Keller, board chair, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools. “We know that when our students have access to child care in their school building, it increases their sense of belonging and helps them feel welcome and safe. When students and families have the support they need, it increases students’ well-being and supports their success, which are two of our district’s primary goals.”
The new spaces are at Gabriola Elementary, Hammond Bay Elementary and Pleasant Valley Elementary. Twenty-four existing spaces at Fairview Elementary have begun to operate under this program.
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Since 2018, ChildCareBC accelerated space-creation programs have helped fund the creation of more than 39,000 new licensed child care spaces in B.C. with more than 20,000 open and providing care for children.