Albertans living in childcare deserts might see more childcare spaces after the province announced additional funding for private operators.
On Oct. 10, Minister of Children and Family Services Searle Turton said the Province would be directing $20 million to help create an additional 22,500 private childcare spaces over three years.
“We’ve really focused on two areas: childcare deserts, where there is limited options for childcare, and areas where there is a huge demand," Turton said. "This grant is really going to get both of those needs.”
Shirley Puttock, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Foothills CEO, said the funding would be applicable to the Foothills region.
“They are looking at the rural areas as childcare deserts,” Puttock said.
The $20 million in federal funding comes from an expansion of the Space Creation Grant to include new and licensed childcare providers.
Turton said the announcement was “really about providing additional access."
Puttock said BGC daycares in Diamond Valley and High River have space available and couldn’t apply.
“But I imagine if someone else applied in the Foothills, they would meet the threshold to gain that funding," Puttock said.
Funding is specific to construction, renovation, indoor and outdoor equipment, and furniture, she said, and could help build a new daycare or go towards expanding an existing childcare centre.
“If we had room, or if we could add rooms onto our buildings, which we can't, we could apply to expand," Puttock said. “We already have all the licensed spaces we can have for the size of our buildings.”
Another issue affecting rural childcare operators is staffing, and it is not addressed by the new funding, she said.
"(Staffing is) the issue we're having, because there are only so many childcare workers in the in the Foothills.”
The Space Creation Grant is a part of the $3.8-billion Alberta-Canada Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
-with files from Jessica Nelson
