Occupancy Approved – Only 1 More Hoop
A daycare in Vancouver needs an okay from no less than 4 different city departments in order to get even preliminary approval to open the doors. Health, Social Planning, Fire, and Building all weigh in, the latter advised by the Electrical, Plumbing, and Sprinkler Inspectors.
Next you need a Daycare License, indicating not only that the space is safe, but suitable as well. Vancouver Coastal Health ensures that the program, manager, and level of care all match the guidelines outlined in the Community Care Licensing Regulations. The officers review the centre’s policies and procedures manual, tour the site to make sure there are no hazards, and make sure toys and supplies are appropriate for the children to be served.
This can take awhile and in the meantime, the daycare can open, but isn’t yet “licensed.”
Many of the home-based daycares in your neighbourhood, and throughout the city, are unlicensed. They’re not regulated because the number of children in the program is limited to 2, other than those related by blood or marriage to the caretaker.
Since Buddings shares space in the centre among all the registered families, this means that, while we can only have 2 kids in the centre at a time, we can accept up to 8 while still keeping our promise to parents that they will have a 1:4 chance of booking into any given hour.
It’s a good opportunity to get into a daily rhythm, practice our routines, and learn our way around the place. There are a LOT of cupboards, full of brand new appliances, toys, art materials, and other stuff. It’s new to us, too. 🙂
We appreciate your support through this process. The families who work with us through the trial period will receive discounted hours, and will have input into how we make the system work. We can’t wait to get started!
If you feel more comfortable waiting until VCH has finished the review, of course that’s fine too. We don’t have any fears of our application being rejected, as we’ve been working with them since the beginning, and we hope to be licensed by the end of the month. If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
