Thursday, March 28, 2024

B.C. launches portal to match essential workers with child care spaces for children under age 5

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The provincial government has launched a new service that matches workers on the front lines of British Columbia’s COVID-19 response with child care spaces for children under five years old.

Essential workers who have small children up to age five can now fill out a form with their information, their child’s age, and which community they need child care in.

These forms will then be used by Child Care Resource Referral (CCRR) centres in 38 communities across the province to connect essential service workers with available licensed child care spaces.

This process prioritizes parents who work in one or more of the following sectors:

  • Health Services
  • Law Enforcement / Public Safety / First Responders / Emergency Response Personnel
  • Vulnerable Population Service Providers
  • Critical Infrastructure Service Providers
  • Food and Agriculture Service Providers
  • Transportation / Infrastructure / Manufacturing
  • Sanitation
  • Communications / Information sharing / IT
  • Non-Health Essential Service Providers

First priority will be given to those who work in public health and health services, social services, law enforcement, first responders, and emergency response sectors.

Forms can be accessed by calling 1 888 338-6622 and selecting Option 4, or online at
www.gov.bc.ca/essential-service-child-care.

This form and service will remain in place for as long as Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, decrees that child care spaces must be provided for critical care workers.

Hours of operation for these spaces will vary based on each facility.

Emergency funding is being made available to child care facilities that remain open, which are eligible to receive these funds at a rate of seven times their average monthly child care operating base funding.

Essential service workers who have school aged children between 5 and 12 years old can access child care in regular before-, during- and after-school hours directly from their school district and independent school.

According to the Ministry of Education, most school districts have already reached out directly to families through surveys to gather information on urgent child care needs.

Parents who are not in an essential services role are asked to care for their children at home if possible or complete the same form to find an available space nearby at a licensed centre after priority has been given to essential services workers.

The form should not be filled out by parents of children aged older than five years.

A Frequently Asked Questions forum has been created by the province to address more specific queries and can be accessed at this website.


See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island


According to the latest update, B.C. now has 970 cases of COVID-19 including 67 on Vancouver Island.

The province has reported a recovery rate of 48%, meaning almost half of coronavirus patients in B.C. have recovered.

The BCCDC has set up a 2019 novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have further questions about this disease.

Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.

The Province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19  line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the coronavirus pandemic.

As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 850,914.

Over 41,600 people have died from the illness and 176,558 have made a full recovery.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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