$10 per day child care has come to Nanaimo with over 150 spots to be run by BGC Central Vancouver Island. (Dreamstime)

By Ian Holmes

cheap child care

$10-a-day childcare arrives in Nanaimo

Nov 1, 2022 | 12:43 PM

NANAIMO — One day following Halloween, some parents have much less frightening child care bills to contend with.

The B.C. Government announced 167 child care spaces on the mid-Island are now part of the $10-a-day child care program, with the slots operated by BGC Central Vancouver Island.

Executive director Karen Love said most of the highly subsidized child child care spaces are based out of their Chase River facility, while their Fifth St. centre in Nanaimo and Ladysmith Child and Family Centre are also included.

“For parents to get notification that they now have an extra few hundred dollars and still get the same quality child care is amazing,” Love told NanaimoNewsNOW.

The cheap child care includes full-day programming for younger children and out of school care for school aged children.

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While most of coveted slots locally are spoken for, Love said out of school care space is available at their Chase River and Ladysmith locations.

Love said providing $10 a day childcare aligns perfectly with their organization’s values.

“For us the accessibility piece is key because we are a fully accessible organization. So the more families we get to support the better.”

Love said they’ll be able to offer $10 a day child care services as long as the funding is provided.

She said they will apply next fall to have the highly subsidized offering at its new facility operating out of the Parksville Community Centre.

The province estimated its $10-a-day ChildCareBC program reduces the average cost of child care from $1,000 a month for full time, centre based infant care to $200 a month.

There are currently 8,190 $10-a-day child care spaces operating in B.C., according to the province.

For families not included in $10-a-day child care, the senior levels of government combined to drop monthly fees for kids in kindergarten or younger in licensed facilities to to see monthly fees drop by as much as $550 a month starting on Dec. 1.

That program is estimated to result in fee reductions of 96 per cent of children in eligible care.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes