The City of Duncan will try again for funding from the province’s ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund for new childcare spaces in the municipality.
The province had approved $810,000 for 68.5 new childcare spaces in the city through the funding program, but the city had to cancel the agreement last August.
As part of the funding criteria, the creation of the new childcare spaces had to be in a location that could be owned or leased by the city, but the municipality did not receive expressions of interest at the time from any childcare organizations that would accommodate the new spaces, and staff had been unsuccessful in securing a suitable location for the project.
Paige MacWilliam, Duncan’s director of corporate services, also said at a council meeting last August that costs had risen significantly for building and renovations in general since 2020 when the city applied for the funding, and the $810,000 the province committed to the childcare spaces would not be sufficient to cover the costs.
But she said that, given the project’s delays and some changes to the grant program, the province encouraged the city to cancel the funding agreement and reapply under the program’s new grant criteria with increased funding amounts in the program if a suitable location is found.
MacWilliam told council at its meeting on July 15 that Parkside Academy Childcare Society, which will be moving to the neighbouring 756 Castle Place (formerly Charles Hoey School), has since agreed to operate a childcare centre out of 820 Wharncliffe Rd., which is owned by the city.
Council had agreed to lease 820 Wharncliffe Rd. to the Parkside Academy Childcare Society earlier in the meeting, and MacWilliam said the society has offered to support the city in applying for the New Spaces Fund.
But she cautioned council that with a deadline of Aug. 2 to submit an application, the timelines are extremely tight.
“The application requires significant effort to pull the necessary information together, so it is possible that even with council’s approval, an application may not be able to be pulled together,” she said
