Child care advocates: Ease Vancouver daycare licensing regulations

Article content

Douglas Park became the site of a rally Saturday as Vancouver residents urged city council to ease up on what’s required for daycare operators to break ground in new spaces.

Peter Waldkirch stood shoulder-to-shoulder with others from Abundant Housing Vancouver, an advocacy group that typically raises the issue of the city’s lack of affordable housing.

Article content

“It is the same sort of broken municipal systems that led to our city’s housing crisis that’s also causing this shortage of child care spots,” said Waldkirch, a Fairview resident.

Article content

“Licensing regulations are unnecessarily strict, and Vancouver is stuck in a cycle of tremendous inertia when it comes to political leaders pushing forth any solutions.”

Organizers were handing out pamphlets to raise awareness after city hall’s licensing department rejected a daycare’s application to expand use of its current space in a South Cambie home, which was revealed by recent Postmedia coverage.

In its first year of operation, Douglas Park Academy’s daycare had dozens of families on the waiting list, so owner Lisa McCormick applied to open a second eight-child daycare on her home’s upper floor.

After a refusal in May due to objections mostly related to parking, McCormick appealed to the board of variance, but the licence was struck down a second time this month. City representatives said the decision was not based on concerns about the daycare’s operator or facility but, in part, due to neighbours’ opposition.

“It just doesn’t make sense for Vancouver to be turning down daycare spots because of neighbours’ noise complaints during a housing and childcare crisis,” Waldkirch said.

Article content

“I understand that change in your neighbourhood can be difficult to embrace, but at the same time, when you buy a home in a wealthy neighbourhood you’re not buying the neighbourhood itself.”

Waldkirch is among those pushing the city to expedite licensing processes for child care spaces by reducing what’s required for approval.

“Requirements to open up a daycare in Vancouver are much stricter than in B.C.,” he said. “Here, children enrolled younger than four must get two to three hours of direct sunlight every day — but even Health Canada doesn’t advise this.”

Late last year, Vancouver Coun. Melissa Dominato’s motion directed city staff to work on better aligning the municipal and provincial policies to make it easier to create new child-care spaces. She expects a staff report on the matter later this year.

Vancouver currently has an estimated shortage of almost 15,000 licensed child-care spaces.

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon criticized local governments, saying they are impeding housing construction, and said he has introduced legislation aimed at ensuring municipalities approve enough homes.

“Where community members complain that eight more children will make noise and we can’t have it in our community, it puts us further behind,” Kahlon said.

– With files from Dan Fumano

[email protected]

Article content