With a building located and a request in for land, the Oil and Gas Commission is one step closer to starting up a long-awaited child-care facility in Fort St. John.

The OGC has located a 15,000-square-foot modular school in Aldergrove, B.C. that could accommodate 198 children, OGC manager of human resources Christine Richards told trustees at a School District 60 committee meeting Tuesday.

Richards estimated that Fort St. John needs 300 more child care spaces. She said the lack of spaces in Fort St. John is having a serious impact on working families in the area, including OGC employees.

"We currently have eight moms who are out on parental leave and it's going to be tough for them to come back to work," Richards said. "Having eight people away in Fort St. John is a huge impact on the organization."

Richards was at the school board meeting to ask if any school space in Fort St. John could be utilized for day care. But with no additional space available in city schools, the modular building, at a cost of $800,000, appears to be the only option.

Richards said the OGC would like to convert a few of the offices in the school into bedrooms for staff and launch a 24-hour pilot program that would cater to the children of nurses and other people working late night shifts.

The OGC has requested a parcel of land from the City of Fort St. John near North Peace Secondary School on 93 Ave. for the facility. City council will vote on the proposal at a meeting scheduled for Sept. 10.

Fort St. John mayor Jim Eglinski said with the shortage of child care spaces in the city, the facility proposed by the OGC would make a "big impact."

"I'm very much in favour of it," Eglinski said of the proposed facility. "I definitely feel that it would be a plus."

The commission previously had a tentative agreement with the Lollipop Child Care Centre, which fell through when the provider was evicted from its building this summer, leaving 50 Fort St. John families without child care.

Over the past three years, the OGC has tried to partner with two other day care providers in the city, but to no avail; one didn't have space and the other didn't have staff.

Richards said staffing shouldn't be an issue at the proposed facility, however. The OGC is in discussions with Northern Health on lining up a recruiter and affordable accommodations for the day care staff.

The commission also plans to seek assistance from the city's business community in the near future.

"Once we get (a business plan) all put together, we can go out and look for some donations and some more partners," Richards said. "It's a huge initiative to take on, and I don't think the Oil and Gas Commission can do it on its own."