Some local parents will soon be getting a break on their child care costs.
Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS) will soon have several $10 per day child care programs.
Chosen as a prototype program by the provincial government, SSCS will have seven of its nine programs come at the $10 cost starting on April 1, 2022. Six of the programs are located in Squamish while one is in Pemberton.
Between the seven programs, a total of 164 child care spaces will be at the reduced cost.
At this time, all of SSCS’s child care programs are full, but a waitlist will be established in early May 2022, according to the release.
The following Sea to Sky Corridor programs will be affected by the announcement:
- Dandelions and Dragonflies
- Valleycliffe out of school care
- Mamquam out of school care
- Brackendale out of school care
- Squamish out of school care
- Garibaldi Highlands out of school care
- Pemberton out of school care
Families currently enrolled in these programs will be automatically converted to the new fees. The two other child care programs from SSCS, Brackendale and Garibaldi preschool programs, are not yet eligible to participate.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Province of BC to offer families in Squamish and Pemberton an affordable option for child care. Affordability is an ongoing concern in the Sea to Sky communities we serve,” said Jaye Russell, executive director of SSCS, in a news release. “As a parent myself, I know first-hand how expensive child care can be. That’s why it was a priority for us, as a charitable organization serving our community, to apply and participate in the Province’s $10 a Day ChildCareBC program with as many child care spaces as were eligible.”
The $10 a Day ChildCareBC program began in 2018 in an effort to reduce costs for families. In 2021, the province expanded the program and gave priority to non-profit or public organizations, Indigenous-led and home-based child care in areas that did not currently have a $10 per day program. Additionally, the province prioritized child care at community centres and on school grounds.
For more information, go to SSCS.ca/10aDay.
