The severe shortage of child care services in British Columbia has been in the headlines for a long time.

And there's an even more glaring need within the Francophone community.

There are currently fewer than 450 spaces in Francophone child care services in BC, but the demand is conservatively estimated at three times that number.

To remedy this problem, the Fédération des parents is currently conducting a study* on Francophone preschool child care services in British Columbia.

This study will provide a picture of the situation for child care centres that offer services in French in BC. It deals with the provision of services, the potential demand from families, as well as the economic contribution that the preschool network makes to the Francophone economy in BC.

In addition, the study will help the Fédération des parents team to better target the services that will be offered to the parent groups who manage existing Francophone child care centres, and also propose ways to substantially increase the number of spaces in the network. The study will be made public later this fall.

The ultimate goal of this initiative is to foster the creation of new spaces in quality Francophone child care centres for families in several BC regions. The demand is so great in some places that parents often have to resort to English-speaking child care services or other solutions that respond in less than adequate ways to their needs.

Therefore, the study includes a business plan that will seek to support parent groups with the start-up of new child care centres, the expansion of existing services, and the management of the centres.

This business plan will also propose strategies for some new services to be developed and managed by the Fédération des parents – for example, in communities where parents are not willing to undertake these services and where there is a significant demand for them.

A First Experience: Les rigolos

The Fédération des parents had its first experience with the start-up and management of a child care service at l’école Sundance (former annex of l’école Victor-Brodeur), located in Victoria. Since last May, families of this Francophone school have had access to the school child care service Les rigolos, offered entirely in French, before and after school hours.

The school’s parents’ association (APÉ) had previously contacted the Fédération des parents about the need for this service, stating that the parents didn’t wish to manage it themselves. The Fédération des parents then collaborated with the parents’ association, the school principal, and the Conseil scolaire francophone (CSF), to establish Les rigolos service, which currently serves about 20 families.

In addition, the Fédération des parents applied for funding after a call for projects was issued by the provincial government to create child care spaces (Major Capital Child Care Funding). This application is for starting a daycare and a school child care service at l’école Océane in Nanaimo.

A project was developed and submitted in partnership with the CSF, in collaboration with the parents’ association and the principal of l’école Océane. In the event that the required funding is granted, the project would create 16 child care spaces for children from 2 ½ to 5 years, and 24 school child care spaces for children in kindergarten and higher grades.

An answer about the requested funding is expected by the end of 2017. If the funding does come through, this project would start towards the end of the current school year. Parents in the Francophone community in Nanaimo are excited about this proposed service, which has been eagerly awaited in the community.

The study of Francophone child care services in BC will also recommend avenues that the Fédération des parents intend to explore to increase the number of child care spaces in French in BC.

With the investments for early childhood announced by the provincial and federal governments for the next decade, we can say that this subject will remain a high priority for the Francophone community for years to come. The Fédération des parents will ensure that the Francophone community here gets its fair share of these investments to benefit our families in BC.

* The Fédération des parents thanks the BC Ministry of Education as well as the Francophone Affairs Program of BC for their financial contributions to this study on Francophone child care in BC.