CRRU | INTRODUCTION | FEDERAL ROLE |  THE BIG PICTURE | THE LONG VIEW |  NOTES AND REFERENCES 
Early childhood care and education in Canada: Provinces and territories 1998
Early childhood care and education in British Columbia
Planning and development Provincial context Legislation History Related services Planning and development Standards and regulations Space statistics Provincial context Child care services Provincial official responsible for child care Legislation Recent developments History Standards and regulations Children with special needs Child care services Key provincial organizations Recent developments Municipal role Administration Funding Standards and regulations Aboriginal child care Children with special needs
History BC

1910  The City Crèche was established in Vancouver as a child care service and employment agency.

1930  Vancouver Day Nursery Association (later the Foster Day Care Association of Vancouver) was established to provide an employment service for women and a system of family day care homes opened.

1943  The Welfare Institutions Licensing Act was amended to govern and license creches, nursery playschools and kindergartens.

1968  B.C. Preschool Teachers’ Association (now called the Early Childhood Educators of B.C.) was established.

1969  The Provincial Child Care Facilities Licencing Board replaced the Welfare Institutions Licensing Board.

1972  The Children’s Services Employees Union was established.

1981  The B.C. Day Care Action Coalition was established.

1982  The Western Canada Family Day Care Association was established.

1990  A Task Force on Child Care was appointed.

1991  The Task Force on Child Care Report, Showing we care: A child care strategy for the 90’s, was released.

1992  The Child Care Branch, Ministry of Women’s Equality, was established. The Provincial Child Care Facilities Licensing Board was disbanded and replaced by a Director of Community Care Facilities.

The Ministry of Women’s Equality took over existing grant programs from the Ministry of Social Servcies (Infant/Toddler Incentive Grant, Emergency Repair, Replacement, and Relocation, and Facilities and Equipment), and established the Needs Assessment and Planning Grants, and the Quality Enhancement Grants.

A province-wide consultation on child care for children with special needs was conducted. A committee was formed to make recommendations for children with special needs.

1993  A child care regulation review began.

The Special Needs Day Care Review Board released their report Supported Child Care.

A Provincial Child Care Council was appointed to provide advice to the Minister of Women’s Equality on child care.

A school-based child care working group was established by the Ministry of Education to address ways to increase school district participation in the development of school-age child care.

A local government working group was established by the Ministry of Women’s Equality to recommend actions to assist local government to improve and expand child care services.

The child care fee subsidy program and funding of the special needs program was shifted from the Ministry of Social Services to the Ministry of Women’s Equality.

BC21, a plan to create 7,500 new child care spaces over 3 years in public buildings, was announced.

1994 A Child Care Policy Team was established to coordinate child care policy across government ministries.

1995  The wage supplement was made available to eligible for-profit child care programs.

The Quality Enhancement Grants/Needs Assessment and Local Planning Grants were discontinued.

Implementation of Strategic Initiatives, a $32M, 4 year provincial-federal initiative was designed to test new approaches to various aspects of child care policy and programs. It included funding for the transition to supported child care, different approaches to service delivery, one stop access - four test sites to provide a central location which co-located financial assistance workers, licensing offers and child care information, a series of community demonstration projects. (The initiative ended in March 1999, and is in the process of being evaluated. The future of the projects is not known at this time.)

The province released The Government’s Response to Supported Child Care. A transition plan was developed to move from funding a specific number of places and specific programs to a system where funding is provided for extra supports in child care programs of the parent's choice.

 
Recent developments BC
In 1996, as part of the transition from Special Needs Day Care to Supported Child Care, 49 community-based Steering Committees were established to assess attitudes and skills; equipment and resource needs; and physical and structural barriers (See HISTORY.)

In 1996, The Emergency Repair, Replacement and Relocation Grant was reduced to $4000 from $5000;
BC21 the capital funding program which created child care facilities in public buildings ended. An internal evaluation report was completed.

In 1996, The BC Benefits (Child Care) Act was introduced and supersedes The GAIN Act as the source of fee subsidies.

In 1996/97, a performance audit of the Ministry of Women's Equality child care programs was completed. The Auditor General's report Management of Child Care Grants, was released. It contained three recommendations:
  • The Ministry should improve its child care database so that it can identify areas of the province where needs are the greatest and it should subsequently give preference to funding child care projects in those areas;
  • The Ministry needs to develop standard costs for use in setting measurable goals for creating new child care spaces; and
  • The Ministry should extend its performance measurement to assess the effects of program efforts on quality and accessibility of child care.

In 1997, child care moved from the Ministry of Women's Equality to the Ministry for Children and Families (MCF). The former Ministry of Social Services became the Ministry of Human Resources (MHR). The child care subsidy program was administered by MHR on behalf of MCF. Responsibility for licensing and monitoring programs and individuals remains in the Ministry of Health. A regional operational model was introduced.

In 1998, the Wage Supplement Initiative (WSI) was combined with the Infant/Toddler Incentive Grant (ITIG) for group centres and became the Compensation Contribution Program (CCP). In October 1998, centres on the waiting lists became eligible for funding. Family child care programs are still eligible for the ITIG.

In 1999, the B.C. government announced that child care would be moved to the Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security. In the fall, a new policy paper, Building a better future for British Columbia's kids was released for public consultation by the Social Development Minister Moe Sahota and Women's Equality Minister Jenny Kwan. The Minister for Social Development called for a national child care program and for federal funding.

 

  
Key provincial child care organizations BC

Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre
3rd floor, 210 West Broadway
Vancouver, British Columbia V5Y 3W2
Telephone: (604) 709-5661
Facsimile: (604) 709-5662

Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia (ECEBC)
3rd floor, 210 West Broadway
Vancouver, British Columbia V5Y 3W2
Telephone: (604) 709-6063
Facsimile: (604) 709-5662

Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC
3rd floor, 210 West Broadway
Vancouver, British Columbia V5Y 3W2
Telephone: (604) 709-5661
Facsimile: (604) 709-5662

 
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