City's daycare staff shortage unique: minister
The Daily News (Kamloops)
04 Oct 2007

While there are shortages of child-care workers in B.C., Kamloops is unique for being unable to open newly built spaces because staff cannot be found, Minster of State Linda Reid said Tuesday.

The province announced $12.5 million in new capital funding Monday to create 2,000 new child-care spaces by 2010. Advocates here said new applications are unlikely due to the struggle for existing centres to find staff.

"There's great success stories around the province," countered Reid, who urged child-care centres to do long-range planning for staffing needs as part of expansion. …

"I want people to make plans that include all the variables around child care," said Reid, adding her ministry will work to assist in addressing the problem here.

Reid said she is not aware of other B.C. facilities given capital funding in 2006 to create spaces that have been unable to open due to staffing shortages.

A representative of Child Development Centre in North Kamloops said Monday the facility cannot open 40 new spaces created with $500,000 in governing funding because it can't find qualified staff. And Children's Circle Child Care Society is also struggling to find staff for a new building on St. Paul Street that is nearing completion.

A Kelowna child-care expert said the Okanagan city is unlikely to expand new spaces because of staffing shortages.

"We have exactly the same problem," said Lynn Burgat, executive director of the child care resource and referral centre in Kelowna. "Even if we were given capital building funding we don't have the child-care workers for them."

Okanagan College, like Thompson Rivers University, has an early childhood education program. Its graduates are "snapped up," Burgat said.

Reid said several recent efforts, along with forecast increases in operating funding in the next two years, should help increase the number of early childhood educators. Many centres have used increases in operating grants to boost staff wages or for training.

"Two years ago the average wage was at $11 and today it's $14. It's going in the right direction."

In spring this year the province announced a $4.5-million investment in the Vancity Community Foundation for training and bursaries for early childhood education students in B.C.