EXCERPTS
A child-care facility planned to open in Kamloops next year will offer Métis-based programming.
In a release on Tuesday, the province announced 112 new licensed child-care spaces to be included in the Otipemisiwak Centre as part of a partnership between Métis Nation BC and Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services.
The new child-care slots will include 24 infant and toddler spaces, 24 spaces for kids ages three to kindergarten, 40 preschool spaces and 24 school-age spaces.
The province said the facility’s programming will be “rooted in Métis values, teachings and cultural practices” and it is expected to open in the spring of 2023.
KTW reached out to Lii Michif for comment and is waiting to hear back.
The province is working toward universal child care in British Columbia, with $10-a-day services currently being prototyped, including at the Kamloops Child Development Centre in North Kamloops.
The city recently studied child-care needs in Kamloops and concluded there is a shortage of licensed and registered child-care spaces. As of June 2019, when an inventory was completed, the city had 12,000 kids ages 12 and younger and 3,300 licensed and registered childcare spaces.
The report found most neighbourhoods in Kamloops are underserved and highlighted limited opportunity for flexible, extended and weekend child care.