There will soon be more childcare spaces available for Prince George parents!
The city says construction has started on a new downtown childcare centre, set to provide 85 much-needed new childcare spaces and early childhood education for local families, including 12 infant and toddler spaces, 25 group childcare spaces for children ages 30 months to school age, and 48 school-age spaces.
The YMCA-operated facility will be located along Queensway next to the Park House Condominiums.
"The YMCA is thrilled to be able to support Prince George parents and caregivers to have access to quality, affordable, early learning and child care in downtown Prince George," says YMCA of Northern BC CEO Amanda Alexander in a news release today (April 21), noting it'll be called the YMCA Park House Care and Early Learning Centre.
"There is a tremendous demand for child care in the downtown core and given the increased need to support, in particular, women and vulnerable parents being able to return to work given the impacts of the pandemic, the YMCA Parkhouse Care and Early Learning Centre will help meet this need."
In September 2020, the City of Prince George received a total of $4 million in grant funding from the province's Childcare BC New Spaces Fund ($3 million) and the Union of BC Municipalities ($1 million) to construct the project.
The city says its application demonstrated the need for more local childcare spaces, as identified in a City Childcare Needs Assessment, which was informed by a survey of more than 800 residents in 2019 and presented to council last year.
The assessment revealed a high degree of need among residents for increased childcare spaces for all age groups, but particularly for infant, toddler, and school age care. Families also reported significant difficulty in accessing care according to their specific needs, with downtown spaces being particularly hard to secure.
The YMCA Park House Care and Early Learning Centre is scheduled to open in late 2021.
It's being built at a fixed price by A&T Project Development Inc. in collaboration with PRD Construction of Prince George.
Colliers Project Leaders has also been contracted to provide project management services to meet timelines and budgets associated with the facility.
