HALIFAX – A pair of Amherst child care centres are receiving funding to convert spaces to support families with infants, toddlers and after school care.
The provincial and federal governments announced 570 spaces are being converted at 51 centers across the province, while increasing support from $2 million to $2.7 million to meet the changing needs of community.
The Early Learning Centre at the Cumberland YMCA and the Bright Beginnings Child Care Centre are receiving space conversion grants.
“This is very good news in that it will allow us to convert space to accommodate younger children,” Cumberland YMCA CEO Trina Clarke. “Both us and Bright Beginnings applied for this program so we can convert current classroom space into infant space.”
Clarke said nothing has been launched at the YMCA, but the funding will help the centre prepare for down the months.
“We’re still working out the logistics of when we will convert and when we will launch. We presently have eight infant spaces, what this will do is allow us to double that to 16 at our centre,” Clarke said.
Infants can start at the centre at six months of age and be part of the infant care program until they are 18 months, when they move to the toddler program.
Clarke said the funding is good in that it acknowledges the impact the government’s pre-primary initiative is going to have on child-care centres around the province. Under pre-primary, centres such as the YMCA and Bright Beginnings, could lose most, if not all, their four-year-olds to the school system.
“It hasn’t impacted us with our full-day licensed daycare here at the Y, but we know it will,” Clarke said. “We’re trying to prepare.”
Pre-primary will be in every school within four years. Presently, the free educational program is in its second year. Clarke said the new funding will allow the YMCA to offer what’s called wraparound care in the morning and afternoon for pre-primary children.
A new infant incentive, announced in March, will ensure the 144 new spaces for infants remain affordable. Centres will also convert 346 spaces for toddlers and 80 spaces for pre-primary wraparound care.
Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Zach Churchill said the announcement is part of the government’s commitment to enhance childcare across the province to make it better for families.
“Right now, only one in four children are able to access childcare and early learning opportunities,” the minister said Friday. “We’re expanding the regulated childcare sector by bringing in pre-primary and this program will help regulated childcare providers convert their spaces to meet the needs of their communities.”
With the funding, the minister said the department was able to support all the licensed centres that applied for funding under the program. He said it will help licensed centres adapt to the creation of free, universal pre-primary.
The first years of life are essential to the sound development, future well-being and learning progression of children, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jean-Yves Duclos said in a news release.
"I am therefore very happy that investments from the early learning and child care bilateral agreement signed in January between the Government of Canada and Nova Scotia allow more kids to benefit from learning and child care services in a stimulating environment," Duclos said.
In January, the province signed a three-year, $35 million early learning and child care funding agreement with the Government of Canada. A portion of that funding has been designated to support this and other initiatives to grow the regulated child care sector for children, families and operators.
Since signing the agreement, the province has changed Nova Scotia's Child Care Subsidy Program to make regulated child care more accessible and affordable for more families and will invest an additional $6.9 million in 2018-19, to create up to 1,000 new regulated child care spaces for toddlers and infants in communities that need them most.
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