The Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre Society would like to build a child-care centre somewhere in the region and has funding to do so, they just need the property to do it on.
Consultant Joanne Hughes gave a presentation to Smithers Council on April 11 with an overview of the project and to get a sense of whether or not the town has a lot for the build.
The society is developing a dynamic child-care model that integrates education and training with housing and child care, she said.
Hughes explained their vision is multifaceted and is a holistic approach to diminishing some of the barriers facing the town and the urban Indigenous population child-care needs.
The model they are developing will include post-secondary education to provide training for Indigenous students in the Smithers area to obtain their Indigenous Early Childhood Education program certificate; affordable housing for staff to ease recruitment and retention of employees issues; and Indigenous-led child care that will provide 51 spaces.
With an initial investment of $2.5 million from Aboriginal Head Start and the potential to receive additional funds from the ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund, the friendship centre society is looking for a municipal partner to collaborate on space creation and according to Hughes, welcome the opportunity to provide 51 child-care spaces to their community.
Hughes told Smithers council they are working on a tight timeline as per the requirements of their funder and need to decide between Houston and Smithers as a location for the project. They need to know the availability of suitable land to help make the best choice.
“Houston obviously has more land, it’s less developed there. So, you know, that’s sort of been put on the table there,” she said. “I think in terms of need, Smithers obviously has a larger population that can access this program.”
Mayor Gladys Atrill explained that the town doesn’t have a lot of available land but understands the need for child care.
“Part of your question is, do we feel the need? And do we want to be supportive of development to support child care? I think personally, I can say yes,” she said to Hughes.
“But if the question is embedded in our ability of land, I think that becomes a much more difficult question.
“Because we don’t have a big supply. And in terms of land that might be deemed appropriate downtown, all that kind of accessibility, we have very little.”
She added that council is looking forward to continuing the conversation
The friendship centre hopes to complete the project by March 2026.
READ MORE: Child care crisis in Smithers worsens; working parents seek help from town council
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