Pemberton Children’s Centre Expansion
In 2022, the Village of Pemberton, in partnership with the Pemberton Childcare Society, was awarded funding to build an expansion to the Pemberton Childcare Centre (PCC). This expansion will provide an additional 50 childcare spaces for the 3-5 age group, in two new classrooms.
Background:
In 2019, the Village of Pemberton Council designated daycare expansion as a strategic priority, supporting and funding the Pemberton Child Care Needs Assessment and Strategy 2019-2023. Despite unsuccessful grant applications to the provincial Childcare New Spaces Funding program in 2019 and 2020, the Village staff continued to collaborate with the Pemberton Childcare Society to refine the application and submitted a third application in 2021. In response to government feedback, this third and final application focused on creating 50 spaces for the 3 – 5 age group.
In March 2022, the Village received the news that the application was successful and $2.7 million was secured for the construction of a new facility. However, given the substantial costs associated with construction, a funding shortfall emerged. Undeterred by this challenge, Village staff proactively engaged with ministry officials and submitted an application for supplementary funding, resulting in a further $800,000 in funding awarded in early 2023.
For more details about the build, please visit the Village of Pemberton webpage: https://haveyoursay.pemberton.ca/daycareexpansion.
In March 2022, the Village received the news that the application was successful and $2.7 million was secured for the construction of a new facility. However, given the substantial costs associated with construction, a funding shortfall emerged. Undeterred by this challenge, Village staff proactively engaged with ministry officials and submitted an application for supplementary funding, resulting in a further $800,000 in funding awarded in early 2023.
For more details about the build, please visit the Village of Pemberton webpage: https://haveyoursay.pemberton.ca/daycareexpansion.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Who is responsible for this project?
This is a collaboration between the Village of Pemberton (VOP) and the Pemberton Childcare Society, the non-profit charity that oversees the operation of the Pemberton Children’s Centre (PCC). The VOP is responsible for building the expansion, while PCC will be responsible for operating the childcare centre. The VOP submitted funding applications with support and collaboration from our managers, Sarah Jones, Ola Perkins and Sammy Losee.
Why is the expansion being built to accommodate only 3–5-year-olds?
The government provides funding on a cost per childcare spot basis, with the goal of maximizing the number of additional spaces in the province. With the current licensing requirements, the space required for infants and toddlers is almost twice the space required for 3 to 5-year-olds. In fact, the initial application, submitted by the VOP in 2019, that was denied included an infant/ toddler room. Based on discussions with the province, it became evident that to be successful in receiving grant funding, the only option was to create more spaces for 3- to 5-year-olds.
What about the need for infant and toddler care in Pemberton?
We hear you! Although the new space is for 3- to 5-year-olds, families with younger children will hopefully still benefit. These extra spaces mean we will be able to move children aging out of their current classroom into their new programs in a timelier manner. This should remove some of the usual backlog of children in Beetlebugs and Crickets, meaning more infants and toddlers can move through the Centre.
Will the new spaces in the expansion also be $10/day care?
Unfortunately, we don’t know. Current requirements state that we need to be in operations for a year before we can apply, and it is unclear whether an exception will be made for centers that are expanding. Rest assured that we will be applying as soon as we can!
What funding has been provided to help increase our operating capacity?
Although the government provided funding to construct the new facility, we have zero additional funding to support the expansion of our operations. This means our amazing managers (a HUGE thank you to Ola, Sammy and Sarah) have been doing the brunt of this work.
Wait, this expansion is doubling our current operations! Aren’t we a non-profit organization run by an amazing but small team of staff and exhausted volunteer parents? How are we going to be able to do this?
We don’t really know but gosh darn it, we are going to try our absolute best! Yes, our amazing staff have been pulling off miracles to keep our Centre open these past few years. And yes, teacher shortages are still a huge concern. But we (PCC managers, educators and board) know firsthand how much the community needs this and we will do everything we can to get this up and running. We are hopeful that the community will come together to help pull this off!
How can we help?
Thank you for asking!! Our biggest challenge will be finding enough qualified educators. The biggest challenge they are facing is finding affordable housing. Any solutions to providing affordable housing to our staff would be hugely beneficial. Do you know any amazing educators out there that would like to join our team? Do you have a suite that you could rent out? Do you know someone who does? Can you help us get the word out that we desperately need accommodation for 8 to 10 new educators?
Ways to help include:
- Spread the word in the community – We need early childhood educators AND affordable housing.
- Write a letter to our MLA ([email protected] ) and the Ministry of Education and Child Care (contact info below) about the need for better incentives and wages for ECE teachers or better yet, start a letter writing campaign in the community!
- Donate to the Pemberton Children’s Centre. We are a non-profit charity and all donations will receive a tax receipt.
Ministry Contact Information:
The Honourable Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care
PO Box 9045 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
Email: [email protected]
The Honourable Grace Lore, Minister of State for Child Care
PO Box 9057 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W9E2
Email: [email protected]
PO Box 9045 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
Email: [email protected]
The Honourable Grace Lore, Minister of State for Child Care
PO Box 9057 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W9E2
Email: [email protected]
