Child Care
Discover how we are shaping the future of child care in Surrey.
At the City of Surrey, building strong, vibrant, healthy communities is at the core of what we do. We believe it all starts with providing our children with the support and care they need to thrive and grow.
With more and more young families moving to Surrey, access to high-quality child care is more important than ever. We are contributing to the social and economic well being of our City, and helping to create a better future for everyone who lives here.
Child Care in BC
In BC, child care initiatives are led by the Ministry of Education and Child Care. In 2018, the provincial government launched ChildCareBC. This is a five-year program created to better support BC’s working families with more affordable access to quality child care spaces.
Although child care in BC is the responsibility of senior government, the City of Surrey and its leaders have always understood the crucial role it plays in the healthy development of our communities, and they continue to take action.
Our Commitment to Child Care
Our commitment to prioritizing child care support services has helped to establish Surrey as a leading family-friendly municipality. We have been able to expand child care programs and services in Surrey by working with community and senior government agencies.
How We Make a Difference
To help address the increasing demand for child care spaces in Surrey we continue to:
- Establish partnerships with non-profit organizations to deliver quality, affordable, and accessible child care
- Align partnerships with provincial priorities and programs
- Roll out Surrey’s community Childcare Action Plan
- Help identify childcare site feasibility
- Provide leadership and support to Surrey’s Community Child Care Task Force
Child care initiatives
- Completed
- Started
- Pending
Child & Youth Friendly City Strategy
The Child and Youth Friendly City Strategy was adopted by Council. The strategy highlights a need to increase access to affordable and quality child care.
Child care in community recreation centre
City of Surrey & Alexandra Neighbourhood House open the first ever full-day child care program located within a community recreation centre.
Today, this program provides 88 full-day and part-time spaces for children up to the age of 12. In 2021, it became part of the province's prototype sites, offering child care at $10 per day.
Child care at City Hall
City of Surrey & YMCA provide full-day child care services in the new Surrey City Hall.
This program now offers 20 spaces. It provides both full and part-time options for families.
Surrey Community Child Care Task Force
The Surrey Community Child Care Task Force forms. The Task Force brings together local sector, government, and public partners.
Child & Youth Friendly City Strategy
The Child and Youth Friendly City Strategy was adopted by Council in 2010. The Strategy identifies actions for the City to take to promote the healthy development of young people. The strategy focuses on engagement, physical environment, and civic services.
Strategy vision
The strategy envisions a community
- Where children and youth are valued community members and actively contribute their time, ideas and perspectives to civic life
- That promotes social connectedness
- Where children and youth feel safe, have freedom of movement, green space and opportunities for play and imagination
- Where all children and youth are able to access enriching and engaging programs and services that promote their healthy development regardless of their family’s income or background
Surrey Community Child Care Task Force
The Task Force supports a strong universal system of early care and learning in Surrey. The City of Surrey co-chairs the Task Force with the Centre for Child Development. The work of the Task Force ensures a collective and effective system of support for child care in our City.
Community partners include
- Surrey School District 36
- Provincial Office of Early Years
- Ministry of Children and Family Development
- Ministry of Education and Child Care
New afterschool programs
The Task Force led to the creation of seven licensed afterschool programs at:
- Maddaugh Elementary
- Woodward Hill Elementary
- Edgewood Elementary
- David Brankin Elementary
- Boundary Park Elementary
- Martha Currie Elementary
- Cedar Hills Elementary
These programs serve 208 children.
What's Next
We will maintain and grow partnerships to provide more quality child care in Surrey. Our efforts are paying off as we see more announcements for funding and child care spaces.
More than 170 new licensed child care spaces at City facilities
In 2022, we received $5.5 million in funding from the Province. This is helping to create more than 170 new licensed spaces at City of Surrey facilities over the next three years.
These include:
- Kensington Prairie Community Centre – 2022/23
- Elgin Centre – 2023
- Surrey Sport and Leisure Centre – 2023
- Don Christian Recreation Centre Park – 2024
- New Newton Recreation and Aquatic Centre – 2025
Indigenous-based programs
$3M more will go to the redevelopment of child care spaces at Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre. This will be an Indigenous based program operated by Métis Family Services.
Funds will also go to add an Indigenous based program at Newton Community Hall. This will be operated by Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association.
Child Care Policy and Planning Review
In 2022 we finalized the Surrey Community Child Care Action Plan and the Child Care Policy and Planning Review.
These strategies will guide us to create more affordable, improved, accessible child care spaces across our City.
Surrey Community Child Care Action Plan
We received two $25,000 grants to engage in child care planning activities from the provincial Community Child Care Planning Program. The resulting Surrey Community Child Care Action Plan was recently adopted by Council to share with the community.
The purpose of creating the Action Plan was to:
- collect information regarding the child care needs of the community
- create an inventory of existing child care spaces
- identify space creation targets over the next 10 years
- identify actions that can be taken to meet the new spaces targets
The Action Plan was shared as part of the grant requirements with the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development to help inform future investments in child care space creation through funding programs such as the Child Care BC New Spaces Fund.
These strategies will guide us to create more affordable, improved, accessible child care spaces across our City.
Related Initiatives
- Surrey Poverty Reduction Coalition
- Surrey Local Immigration Partnership
- Surrey Urban Indigenous Strategy
- Social Policy Advisory Council (SPAC)
Key Documents
- Surrey Community Child Care Action Plan
- Surrey Child Care Bylaw Review
- Child Care Resource Guidelines
- Child and Youth Friendly City Strategy
- Creating a Child and Youth Friendly City: What Does It Mean?
- Child and Youth Friendly City Strategy Consultation Results
- A Profile of Surrey Youth
- Demographic Profile of Children
- Early Development Instrument (EDI)