COQUITLAM, BC, July 27, 2021 – Coquitlam’s vision for child care in the community is one step closer to reality as Council reviewed the first draft of a proposed Child Care Strategy.
Coquitlam is creating a Child Care Strategy that will define the City’s vision for child care in the community through actions that are appropriate to the municipal mandate, as well as through leveraging the contributions of senior government.
Draft Strategy Relies on Measurable Targets
Coquitlam’s draft Child Care Strategy recommends the use of targets around numbers of spaces available for various age groups in order to understand and measure child care need and demand in the community. These targets will also be used to evaluate efforts to create new child care spaces.
The targets are not for Coquitlam to achieve alone, but will help guide future planning efforts and help identify gaps for senior government investment.
The draft strategy is organized according to four strategic directions:
- Increase accessibility
- Increase affordability
- Focus on quality, and
- Build partnerships
Under these four directions, the strategy outlines 34 actions that balance the municipal role, resource intensiveness and positive impact. City staff will report annually on implementation and clearly outline key areas of work for the following year.
Based on Council feedback, the draft strategy will be refined with a final strategy to be brought forward for Council consideration in fall 2021. For more information, or to review the draft strategy, visit www.coquitlam.ca/childcare.
About the Child Care Strategy
Coquitlam received a grant from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) in 2019 to complete a Child Care Needs Assessment. This included a comprehensive stakeholder engagement process which was coordinated with Port Coquitlam and Port Moody in order to provide a Tri-Cities context.
The needs assessment provided a comprehensive analysis of existing child care spaces, resources and gaps and provided a critical data foundation to the creation of Coquitlam’s Child Care Strategy.
For more information about the Child Care Strategy, visit www.coquitlam.ca/childcare. To sign up for updates, visit www.coquitlam.ca/notifyme and subscribe to the Child Care Strategy list.
Media contact:
Genevieve Bucher
Director, Community Planning
City of Coquitlam
604-927-3490
gbucher@coquitlam.ca