More than 200 new child-care spaces to open in Annapolis Valley, South Shore
Spaces will be available in Bridgewater, New Minas and Coldbrook by 2026
The South Shore and Annapolis Valley are set to receive more than 200 new child-care spaces.
The Education and Early Childhood Development Department announced Friday it is giving $5.3 million to three child-care operators.
Small World Learning Centre in Bridgewater, N.S., will open a second location that will offer 86 new spaces, Dare to Dream in New Minas will have 78 new spaces and Coldbrook YMCA will have 62 new spaces.
The new centres in New Minas and Coldbrook are expected to open this fall, while the one in Bridgewater, which will be a second location for an existing operator, is expected to open in 2026.
"Our government is helping more Nova Scotian families find affordable child care in their communities," said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brendan Maguire in a news release. "Investments in child care are investments in families to participate in the workforce and grow our economy."
The funding for the spaces comes from the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement that was signed in 2021 and has created more than 6,500 new child-care spaces across the province.
The province said it is also increasing the funding available to operators from $250,000 per project to $1 million per project to create new spaces under the Early Learning and Child Care Minor Infrastructure Program.
"The truth of the matter is that there's only so many service providers and we've got to make sure that we're giving them resources they need to expand and if they're telling us they need more, then we're going to have to do it," Maguire told reporters Friday.
