A child-care facility planned for the grounds of Esquimalt High School will be the latest in sa国际传媒 in a school setting, part of a provincial program that aims to streamline families’ daily routines by creating child-care facilities on school grounds.
The Esquimalt Child Care Centre, due for completion in November 2025, will be separate from the school and is expected to have space for 36 children — 12 infants and toddlers and 24 aged from two-and-a-half years old to kindergarten age.
The centre will be run by the Island Métis Family and Community Services Society, which already runs a no-fee, culturally based child-care centre in Saanich for Indigenous children, funded by the Aboriginal Head Start Association of sa国际传媒
The Esquimalt centre is for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous children.
The project has more than $1.5 million in funding from the Childcare sa国际传媒 New Spaces Fund — supported by both the provincial and federal governments — for two modular buildings to the west of the school.
Council heard the site was chosen because it was an available location in an area where there is a community need for child-care services.
More than 13,000 child-care spaces are planned for school grounds in sa国际传媒, with 5,000 already open, the Ministry of Education and Child Care said.
Esquimalt council approved the development permit for the Esquimalt project last week, said Mayor Barb Desjardins, who said there is a “huge need” for child care.”
She said council had concerns about the project’s landscaping and the provision of shade, but was assured the issue would be referred back to the ministry for possible additional funding.
“Right now it’s going to be just grass,” Desjardins said.
The next step is for the proponents to apply for a building permit, she said.
In announcing the provincial program in the spring, Premier David Eby said putting child-care facilities on school grounds will make it easier for families doing school dropoffs and pickups, so parents don’t have to commute to multiple locations.
Another advantage is having children go to before- and after-school care in the same place where they attend classes, Eby said.
The program began in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Chilliwack and Nechako school districts, where 180 new licensed child-care spaces are to be created with $2 million over three years.
The province says it has provided funding for the creation of more than 39,000 licensed child-care spaces since 2018. More than 2,300 of those spaces will be in Greater Victoria and surrounding areas, the ministry said.
