Centre-based
	Full-time	Part-time
Group day care (under 3 yrs)	2,965	-
Group day care (over 3 yrs)	13,540	-
Preschool	-	15,500
Out-of-school	-	16,404
Child minding	-	2,181
Occasional childcare/other	-	289
Special needs	742	-
Total centre-based spaces		51,621

CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Children with special needs in regulated child care (1998)

5,600

 

SUBSIDIES

Children receiving subsidies (1998 estimate)*	17,000
Percentage of children in regulated child care receiving subsidies	25%
* This figure is an estimate based on the proportion of subsidies in regulated care. British Columbia subsidizes children in unregulated and regulated child care.

 

SPONSORSHIP OF REGULATED CENTRE SPACES (1998)

Non-profit	31,126
For-profit	20,495

Maximum centre size

not specified

Staff qualification requirements   

There are three categories of training requirements:

Early childhood educator    Basic (at least 10 months) early childhood training program offered by an approved institution and 500 hours of supervised work experience.

Infant/toddler educator    Basic early childhood education program plus specialized training related to infant/toddler care and education.

Special needs educator    Basic early childhood education program plus specialized training related to children with special needs.

For the purposes of defining staffing requirements in child care programs, people who are currently enrolled in basic early childhood education training are called assistant early childhood educators.

Staffing requirements

Group day care, under 36 months    Each group of five to eight children requires one infant/toddler educator and one early childhood educator. Each group of nine to twelve children requires one early childhood educator and one assistant.

Group day care, 30 months to school-age    Each group requires one early childhood educator plus assistants.

Out-of-school and child-minding    Staff must be older than 19 years and have taken a course on the care of young children or have relevant work experience.

Special needs    Special needs facilities (group care facilities where at least 25% of the children have special needs) require one special needs educator for every group of four or fewer children. Larger groups require one special needs educator plus early childhood educators.

Parent involvement
Not specified

Licensing, monitoring and enforcement

The Ministry of Health, through the Community Care Facility Act, is responsible for licensing and monitoring child care facilities as well as developing policies and procedures specific to program licensing.

The local Medical Health Officer, through licensing officers, issues interim permits and licenses, amends, suspends or cancels licenses, investigates complaints about programs, and conducts inspections and ongoing monitoring of programs.

New programs not in full compliance may be issued an interim license, providing the program with 1 year to come into compliance. After a year, a program with an interim permit will have a full license issued or licensing will be denied. Ministry of Health practice is to visit annually for license renewals but this is not legislated.

If a centre is in non-compliance, conditions can be placed on the license and the operator given a time frame in which to comply. If the situation is considered to be a danger to the children, the license can be suspended or cancelled. The operator can request a
hearing before the Director of the Community Care Facilities Branch, and then, if not satisfied, can go to the Provincial Community Care Facilities Appeal Board, composed of non-government members, including people from the child care field. Its decisions are binding.

REGULATED FAMILY DAY CARE

Regulation
Individually licensed

Maximum capacity

Up to seven children under 12 years (including children living in the home). Of the seven children, there may be no more than five preschoolers and two school-aged children, no more than three children under 3 years of age, and no more than one child under 1 year.

Provider qualification requirements

Must be over 19 years and have a first-aid certificate. There are no early childhood training requirements.

Licensing, monitoring and enforcement

Annual licensing visits are conducted by Ministry of Health licensing officers. An initial inspection by the Fire Marshall’s office is required when a new home opens.