THUNDER BAY — There's good news for at least some of the families waiting to get their children into a licensed child care facility in Thunder Bay.
Our Kids Count is opening 26 new spaces at its McKenzie Street headquarters in partnership with the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board.
"It is a small program, but yet it has a big voice," said Dawnette Hoard, Manager of the Child Care and Early Years Program in Thunder Bay.
The OKC Early Learning Centre will provide 10 toddler and 16 pre-school spaces for children under the age of four.
“What this is going to provide is hope for the professionals that deliver the programming, hope for the community that will be providing more space and hope in regards to us being grateful to the ministry for providing funding for us to be able to deliver these programs,” she said.
Families will have access to lower fees as part of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system, funded by the federal and Ontario governments and administered locally by the DSSAB.
"I am just so excited to be able to provide quality, safe, affordable childcare to families in need," she said.
The program will operate five days a week, year-round, with fees of $22 a day or less.
"We are proud to expand our services to include high-quality, licensed child care," said Jackie Knough, executive director at Our Kids Count. "This program reflects our commitment to supporting children and families in Thunder Bay by providing nurturing, affordable and inclusive early learning environments."
The new early learning centre began operating last week and has started accepting children, with four currently enrolled. While the centre tis now open for care, an official grand opening is expected to take place in the October, Hoard said.
"Everything's new and clean and bright, and the children are having so much fun exploring and playing with their friends," said Tara Martin, manager of licensed childcare programs in Thunder bay.
Families will be enrolled through a centralized wait list maintained by the DSSAB.
"It is only 26 spaces, but it's 26 families that we're supporting," she said.
To ensure equitable access, applicants who have been on the list the longest will be offered spaces in chronological order.
“I do get a lot of phone calls, parents can't go to work, they can't go to school, so this will alleviate the strain,” said Martin.
In the coming weeks, an email will be sent through the centralized registry for families to update their profile to add the new program to their list of preferred sites.
More details about the application process for child care can be found online.
The social services board has not disclosed how many families are currently on the wait list.
The new program at OKC is part of a plan to create 196 new licensed CWELCC spaces across the district by the end of 2026.
Our Kids Count became a licensed home child care agency for the district in 2022, and has received operational funding from the DSSAB since then to coordinate and oversee individual private home child care programs and services.
"Our Kids Count has been a welcome addition to our child care service system, and we are happy to support them in opening this new program," said Ken Ranta, chair of the social services board. "TBDSSAB is grateful to have a strong community of service providers who are willing to go the extra mile to support families in our district. We hope today's announcement is just one of many to come."
The district's child care and early years service system currently includes 50 licensed child care sites operated by 29 organizations with over 570 staff, and was serving 1,528 children as of June of this year.
The TBDSSAB recently issued a call for expressions of interest from other groups looking to participate in the growth of the not-for-profit licensed child care system.
NOTE: This story has been updated with new information.