New child-care centre opens at Kenora college campus

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 7:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A caller child-care centre astatine Seven Generations Education Institute's (SGEI) Kenora field is opening up spaces for families and students successful the region. 

In concern with the Kenora District Services Board (KDSB), the institute is creating 49 new child-care spaces astatine the Manidoo Baawaatig Kenora Campus Child Care Centre. Ten babe and 15 toddler spaces are already available, with 24 preschool spots expected to unfastened soon. 

"The KDSB has been an unthinkable spouse and this collaboration connected a child-care centre volition code a existent request successful the Kenora area. Students and families volition payment from this installation and SGEI programming volition beryllium enhanced due to the fact that of this partnership," said Brent Tookenay, Chief Executive Officer of the SGEI successful an April 14 property release.

Henry Wall, CEO of the KDSB, said the deficiency of disposable kid attraction successful the portion has made it hard for families to prosecute education.

"We know we person much adults with children who should beryllium post-secondary and privation to beryllium successful post-secondary but without their child, it makes it very, precise difficult," Wall said. 

He said establishing the centre straight connected field makes the work much accessible. 

Wall adds that offering much child-care spaces volition assistance enactment students successful reaching their vocation goals, which is cardinal erstwhile it comes to gathering the region's labour gaps. 

"We're ever looking extracurricular to bring successful talent, whether it's nurses, paramedics, doctors, to absorption connected health-care assemblage oregon connected the trades arsenic well. It's like, wherefore could we conscionable not turn our ain labour force?" helium said. 

Wall said the committee is aiming to grow child-care spaces crossed the portion and plans to make 100 caller jobs successful the assemblage implicit the adjacent 1 to 2 years. 

In 2021, the national authorities announced a $30 billion, five-year child-care program to make 250,000 caller affordable spaces.

With the upcoming election, Wall said helium hopes the caller national authorities volition recommit to that plan. 

Wall says the existent backing for kid attraction has already had a positive impact on families by making kid attraction much affordable. But helium says additional superior investments are crucial. He added that successful bluish Ontario, infrastructure concern has been historically lacking, making caller childcare abstraction improvement expensive.

"I deliberation a recommitment that this is going to continue, but past besides admit that not each regions are created adjacent successful Canada, particularly successful bluish Ontario," Wall said.

Wall said the concern with (SGEI) was peculiarly invaluable due to the fact that they're converting an existing abstraction into a child-care centre through modifications, which helped flooded the precocious costs of gathering a caller facility from scratch.