Whereas there is immediate need for more child care spaces and increased number of people working as early childhood educators in the East Kootenay and British Columbia; And whereas the main barriers to the creation of new spaces and maintaining existing spaces is not within local government control but is related to provincial funding, licensing and health requirements, educational requirements, increasingly unaffordable childcare costs for parents, and unacceptably low rate of pay for most early childhood educators: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia, the provincial health authorities, and relevant post-secondary institutions work to solve the immediate and long term needs and gaps in child care delivery, regulation, fee structure and provincial funding; And be it further resolved that UBCM and interested local governments be invited to collaborate and participate in developing solutions but that it is understood that child care is not a core mandate or service for local government and interest in participation in solutions is not an invitation for further downloading of responsibility or funding for child care from the Province.
Ministry of Children and Family Development Government remains committed to supporting quality child care as a priority, and we continue to work closely with parents, communities and other partners to strengthen early childhood development, early learning and child care through the BC Early Years Strategy EYS. Under the EYS eight year mandate, several initiatives have been implemented or are under development to enhance the partnerships in communities and work on finding solutions to family and child care provider needs, as well as to provide information to assist both local governments and child care providers in opening and operating child care programs. A major partnership has included the creation of 47 Early Years Centres across the province. These centres are tasked with working within their communities to facilitate service integration, and bring together a variety of early years services, delivered by different agencies, into a more comprehensive service delivery system. Work to date has also included provision of funds through the Child Care Major Capital Funding Program for the creation of approximately 2,400 new child care spaces across the province, and the publication of key reference materials such as Top 13 Actions to Support Local Child Care Needs through the Provincial Office for the Early Years.