When the expanded early childhood care and education (ECCE) centre at North Island College (NIC) opens later this year, it will serve as a connection between children and the students training to be educators.

The expanded Beaufort Children’s Centre (BCC) site will provide 75 new childcare spaces, with priority given to NIC students with children, then NIC faculty and staff. This will complement the existing 53 spaces at Beaufort. Of the 75 new spaces, 58 will be for children from 18 months to five years, with another 17 out-of-school care spaces for older children.

“It will alleviate need for the community,” said BCC childcare manager Megan Edgar. “Our waitlist at Beaufort is over 800 families.”

The building will be another example of new licensed facilities in the community, funded through the province’s ChildCareBC New Spaces program.

The latest B.C. Labour Market Outlook 10-year forecast projects a two-per-cent annual growth rate for childcare services in the province through 2035, with more than half of the 11,700 job openings coming from expansion rather than replacement of current workers.

This project will help address the demand for more early childhood educators by providing more purpose-built space, which gives NIC the potential to expand programming.

In the fall, the college will have 24 Infant Toddler Diploma students in their second year and 24 ECCE Certificate students. NIC expects to have students in the new classrooms starting for winter term with a gradual move over during fall, as the construction permits.

The new facility is being built with the idea of sharing space. It will provide new opportunities for both educators and children to learn together.

As well, K’ómoks First Nation (KFN) has been involved as a partner throughout the project and participated in the design concepts, including the landscape.

“This new space will provide much needed care and education for families in our community, particularly for newcomers and Indigenous families. With our Indigenous family housing nearby, this centre is ideally located to support a growing area,” said Pamela Mitchell, Culture Manager in Community Services, KFN. “K’ómoks First Nation is always proud to partner on projects that serve the entire Comox Valley in a positive way—while honouring Indigenous values, creating safe spaces and supporting families to thrive.”

The site is innovative in many ways, such as using some adjacent forest area for play space for children, as well as the way it is being funded.

“It’s a really unique building in that it’s funded by two ministries,” Early Childhood Care instructor Laurie Tulloch said.

The Ministry of Post Secondary Education and Future Skills is funding the NIC education spaces, and the Ministry of Education and Child Care through the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund is funding the childcare spaces. The funding is jointly supported by the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

At the front of the new building is a large atrium area, with dedicated atelier space—a collaborative studio or workshop space that supports the ongoing project work of children. This provides a location for research into how children engage with a wide variety of materials and tools in ways to encourage inquiry, discovery and creativity.

“The creation of a dedicated atelier space serving the children, students, faculty and the broader ECCE community in the Comox Valley is a significant and exciting advancement,” said Executive Director of BCC Amanda Peters.

“We’ve never had a dedicated atelier space,” Tulloch added.

The BCC site also provides the broader ECCE community with meeting and learning spaces available throughout the area.

“The Comox Valley is its own entity in terms of early childhood education,” said BCC’s Edgar.

While the project will bring both the childcare centre and the college closer together, Beaufort and NIC have always had a longstanding relationship. Many faculty and staff members have brought their children to the centre over the years.

“The faculty have always been part of the Beaufort board,” said Tulloch. “The majority of staff are alumni of our program.”

The Beaufort Children’s Centre’s relationship dates back to the early 1990s when NIC moved to its current Comox Valley site from downtown Courtenay. The founders saw a need for infant and toddler care for working parents and worked to raise money to build the centre, while college administration set aside a piece of land for the building.

Over the years, it has provided care for thousands of families, as well as research opportunities. For example, David Barner, a researcher from the University of California San Diego with ties to the Comox Valley through his mother, has brought his team to the centre to conduct language research.

There is more information about ECCE programs on the NIC website.