The Town of Oliver is jumping on the bandwagon to find ways to increase child care spaces in the region.
On Monday, council agreed to support the regional district’s grant application to collect data on local child care needs.
In his report, Director of Development Services Randy Houle said local residents have indicated that child care space in Oliver is limited. Therefore, participating in this joint initiative with the regional district to increase spaces is a benefit to the community, he pointed out.
Houle said the grant will help create an inventory of existing spaces and establish targets for the next 10 years.
Houle noted that the B.C. government announced (in 2018) its plans to expand investment in child care, totalling $1 billion over three years. This includes $237 million to improve access to child care, and funding the creation of 22,000 new licenced spaces, he pointed out.
In addition, Houle said the Community Child Care Planning Program offers up to $25,000 per community to engage in activities to develop a child care action plan.
Mayor Martin Johansen said this is one issue he has heard people talk about in the community, so he totally supports joining forces with the regional district to establish more child care spaces.
