ChildCareBC Bulletin

Edition 100, April 3, 2025

Archived editions

ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund – Funding Announcement

On March 24, the Province of B.C. and the Government of Canada announced a total of more than $62 million through the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund and the 2025-26 Child Care Infrastructure Fund to create more than 750 new licensed child care spaces in regions throughout B.C. This is in addition to $3.5 million allocated earlier in the fiscal year supporting the development of 320 school age care spaces, for a total of almost 1,100 new school age care spaces.

These include:

• 320 spaces across 13 school district applications
• 531 spaces across 12 ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund projects approved in March 2025
• 243 spaces funded through the 2025/26 Infrastructure Fund across 5 Indigenous-led projects

Thanks to the dedication of B.C.’s child care sector, there are now over 159,000 spaces at 5,700 facilities receiving child care funding. Through the ChildCareBC plan, over 40,000 new licensed child care spaces have been funded, with over 23,000 of these spaces open and providing care for families. Since 2019, almost $1.2 billion has been invested.

ChildCareBC’s goal is to fund as many quality child care spaces as possible to meet the high demand for child care. The ministry has started informing 2024-25 New Spaces Fund applicants of funding decisions in stages before the end of fiscal year. Some projects require more review and approval due to their scope and complexity. Decisions are still pending on a small number of projects and applicants will be contacted as funding decisions are made.

In 2024-25, the New Spaces Fund received more applications than available funding. While we recognize that there is a high demand for new child care spaces, not all projects could be selected.

The ministry is currently reviewing new mandate commitments, provincial child care data and feedback from communities and the child care sector to inform next steps for future space creation. Further information will be shared with the sector when available.

New $10 a Day ChildCareBC Centres open

The $10 a Day ChildCareBC program is one of the key ways government is making child care more affordable for families. Between March 1 and April 1, 2025, 770 new $10-a-day spaces will become available at 22 child care centres throughout B.C.

In partnership with the Government of Canada, there are now approximately 16,000 $10-a-day spaces offered at 334 child care centres throughout the Province, meaning more families can now benefit from affordable, quality and inclusive child care.

Thank you to all applicants for your interest in providing affordable child care for families in B.C. The ministry has started to inform applicants of funding decisions in stages. The majority of applicants have been notified, and remaining applicants will be contacted this spring.

Expanding the $10-a-day program is another step forward in working with the federal government to help families access affordable, quality and inclusive child care through the Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

$10 a Day ChildCareBC Centres receive operational funding to offer families reduced-cost child care spaces for no more than $200 per month for regular full-time care, regardless of family income. Centres are supported with predictable, stable funding that is provided through longer-term funding agreements.

Information about the program and future intakes can be found on the $10 a Day ChildCareBC Centre web page and through the ChildCareBC Bulletin.

Commemorating the 100th edition of the ChildCareBC Bulletin

First created to share COVID-19 updates during the early stages of the pandemic, the ChildCareBC Bulletin has since become one of the key ways the ministry communicates the latest information on ChildCareBC programs.

Nearly five years later, we are excited to share this 100th edition of the ChildCareBC Bulletin with you. For this edition, we pulled some web analytics and learned some interesting facts. For example, we have a lot of folks reading the bulletin across the border in the Seattle region!

Here are some more facts about the bulletin, in a handy list you can use at any child care trivia event!

• Over 51,000 people have visited the bulletin web page in the past year
• Most people read the bulletin at lunchtime on Wednesdays (nearly 3,000 a month)
• January 2025 was the most-read issue with nearly 8,000 views

Looking back, we are inspired to see how the bulletin has grown and evolved over the years. More importantly, we are using what we have learned to ensure you are receiving the information you need to support your work in providing child care for families in your community. Please feel free to contact us at ChildCareBC.Engagement@gov.bc.ca with any suggestions you would like to see included in future editions.

 

Sector highlight: Margaret Manifold

It has been said that there should be an award for the most tenacious child care developer in B.C., as it is not an easy task. As she retires this spring, Margaret Manifold, Senior Social Planner for the City of Burnaby is on the short list for that would-be award. Margaret, or Margie, as she is known by many across the Metro Vancouver region, has been a dedicated advocate for children and families in her role with the city and has contributed the addition of hundreds, if not thousands, of child care spaces in her community with her innovation and creative approach to improving access to licensed, affordable, inclusive child care.

Due to Margaret’s collaborative efforts, just prior to the municipal elections in 2014, the City of Burnaby and School District 41 signed a memorandum of understanding agreement to build child care on school grounds. This paved the way for a partnership that has delivered 18 ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund projects on city and school district land.

Despite the many complex issues on her plate, Margie has made time to be an amazing child care advocate, supporting a community child care roundtable, building the relationships that support the growth of non-profit child care in Burnaby. She has been the driving force behind several city developed projects, facilitated projects with the school district, and is finding ways to adapt to changing legislation to ensure new housing for families in Burnaby includes additional child care development as well.

Like many child care champions, Margaret has quietly and tenaciously made sure that child care was not overlooked in Burnaby. Join us in congratulating Margie for her years of successful efforts convening roundtables, writing applications for funding, developing city policy to support child care space creation, overcoming a host of challenges and working collaboratively to build improved access to child care for children and families in Burnaby.