Local families in Port Moody will soon be able to access 24 new licensed child-care spaces thanks to a $200,395 investment through the Province’s Child Care Major Capital Funding Program, announced Rick Glumac, MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam.

“These new spaces will make a difference to families in Port Moody looking for quality child care,” said Glumac. “We know there’s more work to do. This is just a first step on the way to creating universal, affordable child care throughout the province.”

Block 8 Academy located at the Port Moody Art Centre will create 24 new school-age spaces with the help of the grant. Throughout the province, $33 million is being provided for 103 projects, which will allow child-care providers to create 3,806 new licensed child-care spaces.

This investment will allow child-care providers to:

• Build a new child-care facility, including the cost of buying land or a building.
• Purchase and assemble a modular building and develop a site.
• Renovate an existing building.
• Buy eligible equipment (including playground equipment) and furnishings as part of the above activities to support new child-care spaces in an existing facility.

The Province is now in the process of working with child-care providers to sign project agreements that include the specific requirements that providers have identified for each site, such as the need to lease or buy property, obtain local zoning permits and hire contractors to renovate the sites.

Accelerating the creation of new child-care spaces is part of the B.C. government’s commitment to improve accessibility for families and supports its long-term goal of implementing universal child care in B.C. For more information, please visit: www.gov.bc.ca/childcare