The City of Cranbrook is working collaboratively with the Government of B.C. to address the community’s desperate need for childcare spaces to support young families and working parents with children.

The province has awarded the city $13.5 million for the full cost of a new modern childcare facility to create 123 new childcare spaces, following a successful grant application by the city. The new facility will be constructed adjacent to Western Financial Place, where the outdoor exercise equipment and gazebo are currently located (the former library site).

Construction is estimated to start in spring 2026, with an anticipated opening date in early 2028.

Opportunities to add your child to the waitlist for child care will come at a later date.

Back in 2020, the city released a Child Care Action Plan that revealed only 20% of children under the age of 12 had access to licensed childcare services. The Action Plan also showed that children aged up to three were in the greatest need of childcare spaces.

A follow up assessment in 2024 further confirmed this shortage and the immediate need for all-day childcare for 262 local families. Although School District No. 5 has committed to providing 60 before and after school childcare spaces between Steeples Elementary and Gordon Terrace Elementary, more is needed, and there is still a major gap in childcare for children up to age three.

“Cranbrook has a very large unfilled need for all day childcare and more before and after school care,” said Mayor Wayne Price. “We are grateful for the support from the Government of BC and the Government of Canada to help Council and staff move this important initiative forward and to provide meaningful assistance to families in Cranbrook.”

ChildCare BC was offering grants to build childcare facilities that would include the full cost of design and construction, pending land was provided by the municipality. In tandem, the city put out requests for proposals to non-profit groups in July 2024 to secure an operator for the proposed facility, should the grant funding be approved.

As part of the city’s grant application, council initially selected a portion of Gyro Park as a potential location for the new childcare facility. It was selected due to the quiet location in an area of Cranbrook that is underserved for childcare, while also reducing annual taxpayer maintenance costs at Gyro Park due to the reduction in maintained greenspace.

Council has received negative feedback from the public regarding the Gyro Park location and the proposed loss of green space. Listening to the public’s comments, the city initiated a new public survey to gather the public’s preference for an alternate childcare location and also to determine a future location for a new gymnastics’ facility.

The survey was conducted between March 3 and April 25, by way of a statistically valid mail-out survey (1,600 randomly selected households with a 33.7% response rate) and an open public opinion survey (1,077 responses).

Gathering the survey results, council determined that 76% of respondents preferred the former library site adjacent to Western Financial Place for the new gymnastics facility, and 54% of respondents preferred Balment Park for the new childcare facility, rather than the originally proposed Gyro Park location.

The gymnastics club later determined that the former library site was too small for their new expanded multi-sport facility vision. An assessment of the proposed childcare facility design determined the former library site could be selected for the childcare facility, providing a prime location near all major recreation options in the community such as swimming, skating, soccer, and other indoor spaces for the winter months.

With the outdoor exercise equipment reaching its end of life and needing replacement, the childcare facility will now be constructed at that location. The existing playground and memorial trees will be moved across the Western Financial Place parking lot and located near the indoor soccer dome. This option also maintains existing green space at Balment Park for future community events such as Spirit of the Rockies to have space for their events.

“We are thankful for the public’s input and feedback provided in recent surveys to help Council identify this critical childcare need in our community and preferences on location,” said Mayor Price. “That information equipped council to make the best decisions to address the city’s childcare need, while also keeping in mind the interests of other user groups and the residents of Cranbrook.”

“This is a huge milestone for families in Cranbrook, with the city’s first ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund project,” said Lisa Beare, B.C.’s Minister of Education and Child Care. “By working with our federal and municipal partners, we’re creating more affordable child care spaces that will empower parents to return to work or school while providing access to high quality care for their little ones. These investments support families today while building stronger, more connected communities for the future.”

“Our government made a commitment to Canadians to establish a nationwide early learning and child care system, we’re delivering on that promise by investing in this new facility to make it a reality to families in and around Cranbrook.” said Anna Gainey, Canada’s Secretary of State for Children and Youth. “These new affordable child care spaces will get parents off the wait lists, and ensure children receive the best possible start in life.”

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