The doors officially opened to the Hummingbird Child Care Centre last night, the City of Richmond’s newest child care facility located in the Oval Village.
The centre, which provides 37 spaces of licensed child care for infants, toddlers and children up to six years old, was opened by Mayor Malcolm Brodie along with local MLAs, members of City Council and guests.
“The City of Richmond recognizes the importance of access to affordable, quality child care for residents,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “The addition of Hummingbird Child Care Centre demonstrates the City’s strong commitment to that need. The City of Richmond remains dedicated to supporting the creation of child care spaces as we work in partnership with developers, not-for-profit agencies and senior levels of government to achieve these priorities.”
The Hummingbird Child Care Facility is the 13th City-owned, purpose-built child care facility in Richmond. Located at 6899 Pearson Way, the centre comprises approximately 619 square metres (6,662 square feet) of indoor space and 409.6 square metres (4,408.8 square feet) of outdoor playground space. The facility will provide Group Care for children under 36 months (12 spaces) and ages 30 months to six years (25 spaces).
Hummingbird is leased to and operated by YMCA BC, which also operates two other City-owned facilities in Richmond – Seasong Child Care Centre on No. 2 Road, and Sprouts Early Childhood Development Hub in the Capstan area – as well as six school-age child care programs in the community.
“The YMCA is proud to once again partner with the City of Richmond to bring another child care facility to this wonderful community, and we applaud the City for all it does to ensure families have access to this critical service,” said Cathy Poole, VP of Children and Youth Services, YMCA BC. “In addition to a strong partner, we know it also takes a dedicated team of educators to provide children and families with the quality care they deserve. Our staff teams are at the heart of our child care centres and the group of amazing educators we have at Hummingbird Child Care will be no exception.”
The facility was built by Aspac Developments as a community amenity contribution for the mixed-use development in the Oval Village neighbourhood. Aspac and YMCA BC also received a $250,000 grant from the Provincial Child-Care-BC New Spaces Fund to support age-targeted furnishings and playground equipment for the centre.
“Creating child care spaces where people live and where they are most needed is life changing for families and good for communities and the economy,” said Grace Lore, Minister of State for Child Care. “This new child care centre is at the heart of a growing community and will support local families for years to come.”
The City now provides approximately 620 licensed child care spaces in Richmond. This newest facility is part of Council’s continued efforts to expand the supply of child care spaces for residents in Richmond as outlined in the City’s 2017-2022 Child Care Needs Assessment and Strategy. Working together with senior levels of government is part of the City’s vision to continue to develop a comprehensive child care system, provide high-quality licensed care in Richmond’s neighbourhoods and support the needs of Richmond families.
For more information on child care in Richmond, visit https://www.richmond.ca/culture/communitysocialdev/child-care.htm.