Child Care Analysis

Regional Saanich Peninsula Child Care Inventory & Action Plan

Six municipal partners – Central Saanich, Highlands, North Saanich, Oak Bay, Saanich and Sidney worked together to develop a childcare inventory and gap analysis, and to develop a regional Saanich Peninsula Child Care Action Plan. This plan provides a high level summary of each of the six municipalities individual recommendations. View the Regional Saanich Peninsula Child Care Inventory & Action Plan.

North Saanich Child Care Inventory & Action Plan

The North Saanich Child Care Inventory & Action Plan provides more detail including engagement through the parent and family survey with North Saanich residents, and bylaw and policy considerations and recommendations specific to the North Saanich context. View the North Saanich Child Care Inventory & Action Plan. Council approved the recommendations in the report in September 2020.

Background

The District partnered with the municipalities of Saanich, Central Saanich, Highlands, Oak Bay and Sidney to develop a community child care inventory and gap analysis.

The following types of child care services are being included in the analysis:

• Group child care (under 36 months to school age)
• Group child care (school age including after school or school closure care)
• Preschool
• Family child care
• Occasional child care
• Multi-age child care
• In-home multi-age care
• Child-minding

The analysis established an inventory of existing services and a dynamic action plan aimed at enhancing and expanding services to families in each of the six municipalities. The action plan recommends ways to provide more daycare spaces in order to reduce travel time for families.

The six municipalities received a $150,000 grant through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Community Child Care Planning Program to conduct the analysis.

A survey and a series of public houses were held in spring 2020 to support the development of the plan.