Survey of child-care spaces in Metro Vancouver shows 35% increase from 2019 to 2023

Thousands of new child-care spaces were created in Metro Vancouver between 2019 and 2023, thanks to provincial and federal funding, however the ratio of spaces to the number of children still falls below the national average, according to a new report from the Lower Mainland's regional government.

In 2023, there were, on average, 25.1 spaces per 100 children under the age of 12, up from 2019 when there were 18.6,  according to the report. That compares with the national average of 29 spaces.

The findings are part of a series of surveys done every four years since 2011 by Metro Vancouver.

The latest data was shared Friday at Metro Vancouver's regional planning committee.

Since the last Survey of Licensed Child-Care Space and Policies in 2019, there has been a "substantial" increase of 35 per cent in child-care spaces available in Metro Vancouver, according to the report.

The total number of spaces in the Vancouver region rose from 60,970 in 2019 to 81,264 in 2023, according to the report.

Sharon Gregson is a spokesperson with the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C., a membership-based group that advocates for an accessible, affordable child-care system. 

"Good news for families but still far from sufficient supply of quality, licensed child care to meet demand," Gregson said reacting to the report in an email to CBC News. 

The report comes as B.C. continues to struggle to meet a goal of offering universal $10-a-day child care, which was promised over two elections by the current NDP government.

The B.C. average for child-care spaces per 100 children aged 12 and under is 21, according to the Metro Vancouver report.

Stefanie Ekeli, a regional planner for Metro Vancouver, said in the report presented to committee members that increased funding from the B.C. government and Ottawa for child care was a main driver of the increase in spaces in the region.

Additional stand-alone child-care strategies from local governments also helped, along with zoning rules and financial incentives.

At the end of last year, 15 of Metro Vancouver's 21 municipalities had a local child-care plan, strategy or bylaw that outlines municipal policies for child care. In 2019, only eight of the municipalities had something in place.

The province says since 2018, it has invested $3.9 billion in its 10-year ChildCareBC plan and has brought the average cost of child care across the province down from an average of $50 per day to $18 per day.

The 2023 Metro Vancouver survey said 14 of 21 member municipalities were offering $10-a-day spaces, but did not state the exact number of spots. Gregson estimates there are about 14,000 across B.C.

For its part, Ottawa has partnered with provinces such as B.C. for a $30-billion federal funding initiative to introduce $10-a-day child care across the country.

At the end of March, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government would give $69.9 million to the province for new child-care spaces, while the province said 930 new spaces would be added to is $10-a-day child-care program this spring.

Major challenges

Still, despite provincial and federal dollars trickling down to create spots in communities, the Metro Vancouver survey identified other "major challenges" for delivering adequate child care for families struggling to find it.

"While the results from the 2023 survey show a positive outlook for child-care space creation in the region, local governments still face challenges to meet child-care needs including lack of funding, staffing shortages/wages, and persistent demand," wrote Ekeli.

Challenges also included a lack of funding to cover capital operational and maintenance costs of daycare centres.

Gregson said the province needs to go faster on meeting its $10-a-day promise and implement wage reforms for early childhood educators that would bring their earnings to between $30 and $40 per hour in order to attract and retain staff.

"I'm glad to see the challenges they identify," Gregson said referring to the survey's authors. "Those are substantial issues the province needs to move on."

The study said the number of children under the age of 12 in the region is expected to increase by 1.1 per cent from an estimated 323,796 in 2023 to 327,397 in 2028.

In 2019, there was an estimated total of 325,142 children under the age of 12 living in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area.