On May 10, School District No. 6, the District of Invermere, the Columbia Basin Trust and Windermere Valley Childcare Society announced that a new childcare facility will be built in Invermere on the land at Eileen Madson Elementary School.
The facility will cost $8.6 million to build and will have space for 148 children aged newborn to 10. The money is mostly a combination of federal and provincial funding with $300,000 coming from the Columbia Basin Trust.
Federal funding comes through the Early Learning and Child Agreement between Canada and the province.
Provincial funding was part of the ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund. The project in Invermere is the second project announced under this fund for School District No. 6. The first was announced in February and will be opened at Marysville Elementary School in Kimberley.
“We know childcare is life-changing for families, which is why we are partnering with the Rocky Mountain School District and others in the childcare sector to build affordable, accessible, quality, inclusive childcare as a core service that all families can rely on,” Minister of State for Child Care, Grace Lore, said.
The current plan for the facility is to have 24 spaces for infants and toddlers, 100 for preschool students and 24 after-school care spaces.
“We are aware of the extensive waitlists for childcare in the Invermere and surrounding areas,” School District No. 6 superintendent, Karen Shipka, said. “This facility will help to address some of those concerns for families.”
The childcare will be provided by the Windermere Valley Childcare Society which has been serving families in the Columbia Valley since 1975.
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