The B.C. Network of Francophone Child Care Centres Stays on Course!

The network of Francophone child care centres remains solid and stays on course, while recognizing the various challenges that it faces. On the one hand, the demand for child care spaces is increasing, with more families wanting French-language child care for their child, and on the other hand, as in many sectors, the shortage of qualified labour remains a challenge.

To meet this demand, the Fédération des parents, through its team at Le Phare C.-B., is continuing its momentum to create more spaces in its child care centres. In the past year, it has opened two new child cares centres in Langley and Kelowna. The Fédération des parents also offers its expertise and resources to the other Francophone child care centres in the province according to their needs, such as for staff recruitment.

Statistical portrait of the network

Information gathered by the Fédération des parents in the fall of 2023 collected data that paints a current picture of the network of child care centres offering French-language programming in the province. Here are the highlights:

• The network has 31 Francophone child care centres, of which 9 serve early childhood clients, 10 serve school-aged children, and 12 offer services to both these groups.

• There have been two new early childhood child care centres created in Kelowna and Langley in the last 12 months. Les libellules and Les aventuriers child care centres are managed by the Phare C.-B. team at the Fédération des parents.
• Only 3 Francophone centres are licensed to accommodate infants and children under 2.5 years of age (44 spaces in total, in Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria).
• B.C.’s Francophone child care centres have 535 spaces for children aged 2.5 to 5 (preschool child care centres), and 1,033 spaces for CSF school clients (school child care centres).
• The network has a waiting list of nearly 700 children, including 550 for early childhood clients (250 infants and children under 2.5 years old) and 145 for school-aged children. This is an increase compared to last year.
• 27 centres are managed by a non-profit organization administered by parents (parents’ associations managing the child care centre, school parents’ associations, or the Fédération des parents) and 4 centres are managed by a regional Francophone association.
• The Francophone child care centres employ a total of just over 200 people.
• The labour shortage continues to be a major challenge for Francophone child care centres. At this time last year, 48 jobs remained to be filled in the network; this year, at least 68 jobs requiring various qualifications (early childhood educator, educational assistant, responsible adult, or special educator for infants) have not been filled.

The Fédération des parents would like to thank the managers of Francophone child care centres who participated in this information gathering. If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Fédération des parents team at info@fpfcb.bc.ca.