Child care action plan

Quality child care keeps children safe and healthy. It is a vital part of our community’s social infrastructure that impacts the economy, contributes to gender equality and promotes social inclusion.

Our Child Care Action Plan identifies four goals to enhance child care services through to 2030:

1. Increase access to child care
2. Improve affordability
3. Focus on quality
4. Strengthen partnerships

Key actions in the plan

Twenty-nine actions within the four goals provide a path toward doubling our current child care spaces by 2030, to meet projected demand. The actions include:

• Update the Child Care Policy to reinforce that child care is a District priority
• Strive to achieve more than 2,000 additional group child care spaces by 2030
• Prioritize the creation of new child care spaces in neighborhoods with the greatest need
• Explore opportunities to leverage District-owned facilities to support non-profit child care
• Work with partners to develop coordinated solutions to child care challenges

Read the Child Care Action Plan

Space needs and target defined in the plan

This map compares the ratio of child care spaces per 100 children across the District. The dotted line represents space targets as defined in the Child Care Action Plan, including:

• 0-2 years old (infant/toddler): 33 spaces per 100 children
• 3-5 years old (preschooler): 50 spaces per 100 children
• 6-12 years old (school aged): 33 spaces per 100 children

How we developed the plan

The Child Care Action Plan was approved by Council on December 7, 2020. These are the steps we followed to develop the plan:

• Phase 1 (October, 2019 - November, 2019) — Reviewed municipal best practices, existing child care spaces, and the child care facility development application process
• Phase 2 (October, 2019 - February, 2020) — Interviewed child care providers, survey parents and guardians, and hold workshops with stakeholders
• Phase 3 (January, 2020 - March, 2020) — Created the draft strategy for Council review
• Phase 4 (April, 2020 - December, 2020) — Developed a final draft of the report to present to Council for adoption

Existing child care policies

Creating safe, healthy environments for all residents is a priority. For children in our community, this includes helping provide quality child care services that give children the opportunity to develop socially, emotionally and intellectually.

Our child care policy outlines the actions that various departments can take to support and enhance child care facilities in the District.

Review the child care policy