Port Coquitlam child-care facility looks to add 66 spots

The kids may have a little more space to play in one Port Coquitlam child-care facility. 

In a committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, Port Coquitlam council took the first step towards allowing Honeybees Child Care Centre to nearly triple its capacity. 

The owners of the facility, which operates at 2099 Lougheed Highway within Shaughnessy Square, are looking to expand into a neighbouring unit to increase the number of children they can accommodate from 37 to 103.

“It goes without saying, obviously, it continues to be a significant need for this in the community,” said Mayor Brad West at the meeting. “Seeing the expansion of nearly 70 spots is a very positive thing.” 

Since opening in 2007, Honeybees Child Care Centre has operated with enough space for 12 infants and toddlers and 25 three to five year olds. 

If the expansion plan ultimately gets approval from council, the building will be able to host 25 additional spaces for three to five year olds and still have 41 spots for out-of-school care and preschool programs, according to a report to council. 

It’s expected that the children attending the new out-of-school program will be walked to the building from James Park Elementary, which is roughly one kilometre away.

Coun. Steve Darling echoed the importance of increasing child care spots and the proposed after school program. But he questioned whether there would be alternative forms of transportation for children from the elementary school. 

“It concerns me about trying to get kids to walk in the middle of November and December, especially at that type of age,” he said. 

Walking still seems to be the main mode of transportation throughout the year, said Natalie Coburn, a planner with the city. 

However, she added that the project applicants are looking to involve other nearby schools in the program — meaning different modes of transportation may be needed to shuttle those kids to the child-care facility. 

Council’s approval to grant first and second reading of the bill comes five years after the city launched an action plan that outlined a need for more child care spaces in Port Coquitlam.

When the plan was brought to council in 2020, about 2,245 child care spots for 8,380 children were recorded in Port Coquitlam — a deficit the city hoped to address for infants, toddlers and school-aged children, specifically. 

One pillar of the plan advised Port Coquitlam to address the deficit by creating roughly 145 new spaces per year until 2030. 

The city has upped its child care space throughout the city in recent months, approving a 65-unit child-care facility at 1948 Grant Ave. in the fall, despite initially rejecting the application after several residents spoke out about parking and property value concerns. 

Port Coquitlam also green-lit the environmental regulations for a new facility that could host as many as 144 kids in the Hyde Creek neighbourhood.  

Despite the recent approvals, Coun. Darrell Penner suggested that the city may benefit by tracking its progress on hitting that annual target under the Child Care Action Plan.

“It would be helpful for us, when we have applications, to have a running tally,” he said. “So the community can see we’re on track, or we’re not on track.” 

West reiterated that statement, suggesting that Port Coquitlam is well on its way to meeting that target this year. 

“I know we’ve had quite a few in the last several months, so I’m sure we’re exceeding the target for this year,” he said.

There are 96 child-care facilities in Port Coquitlam as of this month, according to the province’s child care map. However, the map doesn’t include the number of spots that are available at each building. 

The decision to approve an expansion plan at Honeybees Child Care Centre will come before council at an upcoming meeting.