ONE-stop shopping for child-care services may be the way of the future for the North Shore.

The idea is a key recommendation in a 144-page report conducted for local governments on the state of child care on the North Shore.

"It is a model that is gaining momentum across Canada," said Denise Buot of Arbor Educational and Clinical Consulting Ltd., the firm that did the report.

The idea is based on a centralized registry including waitlists for child care by region, lists of nannies, babysitters, child-care providers, health services and other relevant community resources.

Ideally, the system makes it easier for families to find child-care services they need, said Buot.

Some 377 parents across the North Shore took part in the survey, including 23 who took part in focus groups and interviews. Fifty-eight of the 255 North Shore child-care facilities also participated.

Currently there are 63 child-care facilities in the City of North Vancouver. The districts of North and West Vancouver have 139 and 53 centres respectively.

Many of the issues identified in the last child-care study done in 1994 are still on the table today, Buot said.

Top of the list of concerns for North Shore parents are space shortages, long wait lists -- some as long as three years -- and high costs of child care. A shortage in infant and toddler care as well as after-school programs also made the list.

Many parents identified a lack of government support as a concern, particularly when paying child-care costs for multiple children, said Buot.

Child-care providers also struggle with recruiting and keeping staff, lack of government support and increasing operation costs, according to the report.

Among recommendations of the report are creating the position of a child-care co-ordinator for the three North Shore municipalities and an committee to oversee the development of a multi-year strategic plan. School districts should also be involved to maximize child care in schools, said Buot.

Local government could help by making policies geared toward the creation of child-care spaces in new property developments, providing incentives to establish and expand child-care facilities, and increase public awareness about the importance of child care, according to the report.

But the city can't act alone and senior governments must do their part in what has traditionally been their role, said City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto.

"Clearly we need more spaces here and we are going to need support from other levels of government to provide those spaces," he said.

Coun. Barbara Perrault cautioned new policies must also have the support of the community.

"There has got to be some sensitivity to the neighbourhoods," she said. "If we want to enable day cares we have got to get our community on side."

Concerns from neighbours about traffic and noise from day cares are all issues that need consideration, said Perrault. "We have to be sensitive to the needs of everyone."..

"I certainly look forward to the kinds of recommendations staff come back with in terms of what the City of North Vancouver should do alone and what the City of North Vancouver should do in consultation with the other neighbouring municipalities," said Coun. Craig Keating.

"This is a very comprehensive study," said Paul Penner, community planner for the City of North Vancouver.

"It provides the city as well as the other North Shore municipalities with a solid basis of understanding for moving forward with child-care policies."