The City of Burnaby has completed the Rowan Avenue Child Care Centre, adding 74 new child care spaces to the community.
The centre includes 50 spaces for children 36 months to school age, and 24 spaces for children under three years old (identified as the most underserved age group in Burnaby’s Child Care Action Plan). Priority enrollment is provided to City of Burnaby and Burnaby RCMP staff, with remaining spaces available to the broader community.
“The Rowan Avenue Child Care Centre is a pivotal part of our comprehensive effort to meet the child care needs of our community,” said Mayor Mike Hurley. “We’ve heard from young families who are struggling with the cost and limited accessibility of child care spaces – and we’re proud to be working with our federal and provincial partners to solve this issue.”
The City received $7.4 million in funding from the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund to offset the cost of designing and constructing the Rowan Avenue Child Care Centre. The ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund is jointly supported by provincial investments and federal funding under the 2021–2022 to 2025–2026 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
The City also contributed the land for the project.
“Access to affordable, high-quality child care gives families peace of mind and strengthens our communities,” said Wade Chang, Member of Parliament for Burnaby Central. “Through the Canada–British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, our federal government is proud to work hand in hand with the Province and the City of Burnaby to ensure more families have access to the care they need. The opening of the Rowan Avenue Child Care Centre is another example of what we can achieve when we work together to make life more affordable for Canadians.”
“Access to high-quality and affordable child care is a game changer for families” said Rohini Arora, parliamentary secretary for child care. “With this new centre in Burnaby opening, more children will have a safe, nurturing place to play and learn, while empowering their parents to focus on their own professional and personal-development goals. Our ChildCareBC investments are strengthening our economy, supporting families and communities, and building a more resilient, prosperous future for all British Columbians.”
The Lower Mainland Purpose Society for Youth and Families is operating the new facility on behalf of the City. Purpose Society has a well-established track record in providing quality care and is the operator of four of the City’s existing child care centres including Rowan.
Burnaby is committed to delivering accessible, quality child care and making it straightforward for operators to open child care centres. The City is facilitating the creation of new child care spaces through two strategies: developing City-owned child care facilities operated by non-profit societies, and by partnering with the Burnaby School District to establish child care facilities on school sites in Burnaby.
Including Rowan, City-owned sites currently provide a total of 265 quality licensed child care spaces for infants, toddlers and three- to five-year-olds. Through the partnership with the Burnaby School District, a total of 296 new spaces for infants, toddlers, three- to five-year-olds have been completed, with more spaces scheduled.
Learn more: Children & Child Care