Over 600 more $10-a-day child-care spaces to open on Avalon Peninsula
16 pre-kindergarten programs are included in the expansion
Over 600 more $10-a-day child-care spaces are expected to open on the Avalon Peninsula.
Early Childhood Development Minister Bernard Davis announced the expansion at Dream With Us, a new child-care centre in Conception Bay South on Friday.
He said the new spaces are divided between 27 early learning and child-care centres. Sixteen of the 27 centres are elementary schools that offer pre-kindergarten programs. Details can be found on the province's early learning gateway.
"When we create space in one of our schools, for example, a pre-kindergarten space for a four-year-old, that creates another space in a daycare or an early learning centre that is currently full," Davis told reporters.
All of the centres are now open or set to open in the coming months.
However, Davis said there are sometimes delays, which can be frustrating for parents.
He said those delays are often outside of the government's control.
"We want to move even faster because I have a young family and I understand the pressures that it puts on them," Davis said.
Roughly 11,200 child-care spaces are currently operating at $10-a-day across Newfoundland and Labrador through the province's deal with the federal government's child-care agreement.
The program will be in place until March 31, 2031.
"We invest about $110 million a year in early learning in our province," Davis said. "This is the most important thing we can do as a government, as a people, is how we train and educate our youngest to give them the best start in society."
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With files from Jeremy Eaton