Provincial dollars keep Edmonton daycare open
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | 3:05 PM ET
CBC News
An Edmonton daycare would have been forced to close its 58 child-care spots if it had not received provincial funding, the centre's director said Monday.
Sandra Brabbins, with the Primrose Place Daycare Centre made the comment as Children's Services Minister Janis Tarchuk announced 3,500 new child-child care spaces would open across Alberta this year as a result of provincial government funding announced last spring.
Children at the Primerose Place Daycare Centre, which will move this summer into a new location with the help of provincial government funding.
(Lydia Neufeld/CBC)
The Primrose Place daycare is getting $105,000 from the $2-million Space Creation Innovation Fund to help it move after being forced out of its old location this summer.
"If we didn't have the space creation money, of course we would end up closing. So in essence, what it's doing, is it's creating the spots for us to survive again. We're going to have 58 spaces. Otherwise those 58 spaces would be gone," Brabbins said.
The daycare plans to re-open in August at its new site in St. Brendan Elementary School, in southeast Edmonton.
"Right now it's just set up like classroom for school. So we need to go in and get the rooms fitted for toddlers and the older children. The bathrooms need to be set up."
Brabbins hoped to apply for more government funding in the future to add another 12 to 14 spaces to the daycare.
The Space Creation Innovation Fund was introduced in the 2007 provincial budget. It was aimed at helping daycare operators create new child-care spaces by covering startup costs and money for renovation.
According to government figures the fund will provide for an additional 652 spaces in the Edmonton area and 906 new daycare spaces in Calgary.
During the recent provincial election campaign, Premier Ed Stelmach promised to create an additional 14,000 child-care spaces over three years, mostly by providing a variety of tax credits to parents.
With files from Lydia Neufeld
