Kelowna International Airport expands child care facilities 

More childcare at airport

Photo: Contributed

More childcare spaces are being added to the Kelowna Airport YMCA

The Kelowna Airport YMCA Child Care Centre is expanding its daycare offerings.

Around 24 new spaces will be added for children under 36 months old, bringing the total number of childcare spaces at the facility to 86.

City staff said in a press release announcing the expansion that the increase "will aim to alleviate the significant waitlist and meet the needs of families working on the airport campus and in the surrounding community, including those employed by KF Aerospace, the city's largest employer."

“These new spots will make a huge difference for busy moms and dads working at the airport and those living nearby," Jenna Sudds, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development said.

"We will keep working hard to create more spots to get kids off wait lists and into high-quality, affordable child care close to home and work.”

The facility was built with expansion in mind, which will allow for the facility to grow seamlessly from the existing footprint. The expansion is currently in the design phase and anticipated to be complete in late 2025.

The YLW Child Care Centre is part of a broader infrastructure expansion at the Kelowna International Airport, which includes various projects aimed at meeting the needs of the growing region.

The Province provided approximately $3.8 million toward the Kelowna Airport YMCA Child Care Centre from the ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund, for the initial building of the Child Care Facility.

ChildCareBC New spaces Fund, which is supported by provincial investments and federal funding under the 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.