Empty school classrooms could be home to new child-care spaces across North Vancouver.

District of North Vancouver council voted to begin negotiations with the North Vancouver school district to that end Monday night after receiving a 144-page report chronicling a child-care "crisis" on the North Shore.

"Overall in B.C., a recent report in 2007 reported that there is a child-care crisis," said Denise Buot of Arbor Educational and Clinical Consulting Ltd., the firm that did the report. "Certainly with increased dual-family earners and the increased cost of living in the Lower Mainland, parents are feeling they need two jobs to get by. So it's increased demand for child care."

She also recommended setting up a one-stop child-care centre in each neighbourhood housing all relevant child-care information for parents to see.

Coun. Doug Mackay-Dunn put forward the motion to speak to the school district.

"School districts have also been boarding up schools and selling property to throw much-needed funds into their operating fund, so I think there's an opportunity here."

He said schools are already split into neighbourhood groups and can easily adapt to fit the needs of the one-stop hub model with minimum hassle for the district and parents.

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

Topping the list of parental concerns was a shortage of child-care spaces leading to massive waitlists and high costs for care. For instance, Buot said, it cost between $900 and $1,400 a month to put an infant up to 30 months of age in child care. Between ages three and five it cost from $600 to $1,200 and school-aged children got after school care for between $330 and $530 a month.

For families with two young children that can be overwhelming, she said.

On the other hand, providers identified a lack of government support at various levels and a difficulty retaining staff.

The report also recommends creating a child-care co-ordinator for the entire North Shore and a committee to steer the development of a multi-year strategic plan, all the while lobbying the provincial government for more funds.

Coun. Mike Little said the district had to be careful not to take on too much cost of what is traditionally a provincial responsibility. "We went from talking about tweaking and assessing the system to offering a comprehensive care package," he said.

Little said some of the proposals might require a referendum.

Coun. Janice Harris said it would be difficult getting the school district involved without more provincial funding. "They don't want to be involved in early child care because they're not funded for it. It's not in their mandate."

She said the district should also push new developments to be more family friendly and include new child-care spaces.

The district contributed $10,000 to the report, while the City of North Vancouver and District of West Vancouver each put forward $5,000.

Staff will also forward the report to the child care grants committee and report back to council in the fall with a proposed process for review of the district's current child care policy adopted in 1994…