BGC Central Vancouver Island has applied for $10-a-day daycare at the Jensen Centre in Parksville for a second time.
BGCCVI applied for the provincial government's $10-a-Day ChildCareBC program in 2023, but was not successful, according to a Dec. 2 update to Parksville council by Ali Legge, director of operations and human resources.
It tried a second time this past November, according to Legge's presentation. BGCCVI currently operates $10-a-day daycare at sites in Nanaimo and Ladysmith, she added.
The Early Learning Childcare Oceanside Council sent a "strongly-worded" letter that advocated for $10/day spaces in the area, according to Coun. Mary Beil, council liaison to that organization.
On the positive side, the Jensen Centre was recently approved for 20 additional preschool age spaces.
“It is a need of the community that, you know, not everyone can attend full day daycare, but children do need a place to come, have a snack, learn and grow," Legge said. "So we are very excited to have preschool in addition and that will open soon.”
The program will be Monday to Friday, she added.
BGC CVI operates a portion of the Jensen Centre as childcare, youth and family programming through a lease and operating agreement with the City of Parksville. There are a total of 91 childcare spaces with 37 spaces allocated for infants to school age and 54 spaces for school age children, plus the 20 newly-announced spots for preschool-aged children.
“Overall the big takeaways this year were growth and our commitment to sustainability and continuing to reach communities that don’t have to the supports they need,” Legge said. “The big takeaway for me is we are very proud of ourselves this year and we are growing and that’s really exciting.”
The organization's interim executive director Corey Sugiyama was not able to attend the meeting.
