Child care needs in small, rural and remote communities in British Columbia

1. INTRODUCTION In February 2018, the provincial government made a significant commitment to quality, accessible and affordable child care in British Columbia by investing $1 billion over the next three years to start building a universal system for BC’s children, families and the economy.

The Province also released the document, Child Care B.C. Caring for Kids, Lifting Up Families: The Path to Universal Child Care, which details the government’s values, vision and steps on how they will create universal child care in BC. Child Care BC includes: reducing child care fees for parents, creating new licensed spaces, investing in the Early Childhood Educators (ECE) workforce, and investments in child care for Indigenous communities.

To build on this work and add to the discussion on child care, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) and the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC (CCCABC) are working together to better understand child care needs in small, rural and remote communities. While some of the same challenges may exist for both urban and rural communities, UBCM and CCCABC believe there are specific issues that arise for the small, rural and remote areas of the province.

In May 2018, with input from CCABC, UBCM launched a survey to local governments, asking about their child care needs. The two groups also conducted six in-person interviews with local governments, and others, in the Peace River/Northeast region of BC in July 2018.

This report provides a summary of the survey and in-person meeting results. A number of recommendations were suggested by the local governments and are presented at the end of the report.