Day care deadline clarified
Richmond News
January 11, 2008
Letters By: Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care

The Editor,
Re: "Funding welcome, deadline 'impossible,'" News, Jan. 8.

I would like to clarify that there is no four-month deadline for construction of new child care centres.

It is incorrect to state that the newly announced $12.5 million major capital grants construction of new child care centres funded by the Ministry of Children and Family Development must start within four months of funding approval.

Successful applicants are not required to break ground within four months of receiving funding approval. Applicants have four months to begin the preliminary construction planning and site preparation -- for instance, hiring a contractor and launching the rezoning process, if necessary.

While the ministry encourages those planning new child care ventures to do so in a timely fashion in order to create new child care spaces as soon as possible, the four month requirement on projects is in place to assure the ministry that the applicants have serious intentions to move forward, to manage their construction costs and to create new child care spaces.