By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

Council approves change to allow 24-hour child care in Grande Prairie

Nov 1, 2022 | 6:00 AM

City council has approved a change to the land use bylaw that will allow 24-hour childcare in Grande Prairie.

This will be for daycare facilities only; day homes are not included.

Mayor Jackie Clayton says this opens the City up for new businesses and would allow already established ones to expand.

“We know that there are healthcare workers, service workers, industry workers that work shift work.”

“Having the opportunity to have overnight daycare is something we’ve seen in other municipalities, but really serves as an opportunity for our community.”

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Clayton adds they had heard from parents who wanted this to be available in Grande Prairie.

“We have heard from healthcare workers; in particular nurses that it’s a need and sometimes it prohibits them from looking at different shifts.”

“We also know that in industry fields where they are potentially a grader operator or (they) work on an industry site that is working 24 hours a day, that daycare needs need to be expanded in our community.”

Clayton says this can also be another way of attracting people to Grande Prairie.

She adds some businesses have already shown interest in coming here because of this change.

“We met with an organization earlier in the year (that) operates 24-hour daycares (and) they are particularly interested in our community. They operate in other municipalities.”

“That is only one of them. We know that there are multiple organizations that run 24-hour daycares and overnight daycares.”

Clayton says they would also like to see established operators expand their facilities

The province passed legislation in 2019 to allow for 24-hour childcare and city officials say this change brings city regulations in line with provincial legislation.