Is there licensed child care near my property?

What the answer means

The nearest facility

The report measures a straight line from the lot's middle to the nearest licensed group facility on the Province's Child Care Map Data and names it. It counts the group facilities within 1 and 2 km by the ages their operators list, and past 2 km says how far the nearest is. A space is said only as the operator's report, and only when it's under 60 days old.

Group and family care

A licensed facility is inspected by the regional health authority and has to meet the Child Care Licensing Regulation's rules on health and safety, staff training, group sizes and child-to-staff ratios. Group child care is in a centre: up to 12 children under 36 months in a group, or up to 25 from 30 months to kindergarten. Licensed family child care is in the provider's own home, up to 7 children from birth to 12 years with the provider as the one adult licensee.

Family homes counted, never named

Licensed family child care is in the provider's own home, so we count it and never name or place it: a report counts the homes within about 2 km, and a place's page counts those in the place.

The fee reduction (CCFRI)

Through the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI), the Province funds licensed providers who opt in so they lower their monthly fees and hold them steady. Families don't apply: at a facility taking part, the lower fee is what it charges. Taking part is the provider's choice, and a fee drops only once the ministry approves the provider in writing. How much lower depends on the child's age and the kind of care; the Province's fee reduction estimator gives the figure.

$10 a Day centres

$10 a Day ChildCareBC Centres are facilities the Province funds under a separate operating model, so a full-time space there costs families about $10 a day, as the program's name says (our reading). Families don't apply to the program: a space depends on the centre's licensed capacity and its own wait list, so ask the centre. A centre can leave the program, and its families then return to its usual fees. The Province lists the centres by school region on its own page; its child care map data doesn't mark them, so we don't count them by place.

Other help with fees

A household earning up to $111,000 a year may also get its fees lowered further through the Affordable Child Care Benefit, which the family applies for.

What the list leaves out

The list holds the licensed facilities the Province funds. A licensed facility that doesn't take the Province's operating funding, a licence-not-required carer looking after a few children, a nanny and care in the child's own home aren't on it. The ages and spaces are what each operator reports, and many list no ages.

What it means for a buyer

Each provider keeps its own wait list, so ask the ones you'd use how they fill openings, and ask early. The local Child Care Resource and Referral Centre helps families find care, and the Province's child care map shows each licensed facility with any space its operator reports.

Counted by us from the Province's Child Care Map Data, listed 2026-10-11; distances are straight lines. The programs are our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-11. Confirm with each facility its spaces, fees and wait list, and ask the local Child Care Resource and Referral Centre what else is near, before you count on a space.

Source: Child Care Map Data, Child Care Programs and Services (listed 2026-10-11) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative, Province of British Columbia, read 2026-10-11 (Province of British Columbia); $10 a Day ChildCareBC Centres, Province of British Columbia, read 2026-10-11 (Province of British Columbia); $10 a Day ChildCareBC Centres by School Regions, Province of British Columbia, read 2026-10-11 (Province of British Columbia); Understand the different types of child care in B.C., Province of British Columbia, read 2026-10-11 (Province of British Columbia); Child Care Resource and Referral Centres, Province of British Columbia, read 2026-10-11 (Province of British Columbia); Child care map, Province of British Columbia (Province of British Columbia); Fee reduction estimator, Province of British Columbia (Province of British Columbia).

By place

The 228 of BC's 319 places where the Province lists licensed child care, by name: the group facilities in each, by the ages their operators list, the family child care homes, and how many of them take part in the fee reduction.

Counted by us from the Province's Child Care Map Data, listed October 11, 2026: the licensed facilities the Province funds, a facility listed once per licence counted once. The ages are what each operator lists, and many list none. Facilities are placed in the 2021 census boundaries; the 76 outside every area page's boundary, most on reserve land, aren't counted here.