Growing number of Central Okanagan daycare seats not enough to ease years-long waitlists

Daycare crunch persists

Photo: Unsplash

The number of childcare spaces in the Central Okanagan have been growing steadily in recent years, but multi-year waitlists for families still remain.

Dozens of West Kelowna families were sent scrambling last month with the closure of BrightPath, one of the community’s largest daycares. While the facility will reopen some time this year under new ownership, the loss of sixty-two daycare seats for several months is a setback.

“Our hearts go out to them,” said Cassandra Thomas, YMCA of Southern Interior BC, general manager of youth, family and community services. “We understand the hardship that that puts on families.”

The YMCA operates the region’s childcare resource and referral program for the provincial government, working to connect families in need of childcare with operators.

Thomas says between April 2024 and March 2025, they have seen a “gradual” increase in the number of childcare licenses granted, with 31 issued, 75% of them in Kelowna. Ten licenses, however, were not renewed during that time.

Data released to Castanet by Interior Health also shows things moving in the right direction. There are now 5,289 licensed childcare spaces in Kelowna and 1,259 in West Kelowna. In 2021, those cities had 4,364 and 1,108 seats, respectively.

A 2020 report on daycare in the region recommended West Kelowna create 23 new daycare seats, per year, through to 2030 to keep up with demand. The same report suggested 30 seats must be created a year in Kelowna.

Thomas says the highest demand is coming from families seeking care for infants and toddlers aged zero to 36 months.

“That is a pressing need for individuals to get back into employment is to find care for their infant,” she said.

While the provincial and federal governments have been pouring money into childcare in the form of the $10-per-day program—getting one of those heavily-subsidized seats is akin to winning the lottery.

Despite all the public money flowing into the system, the economics of operating an affordable daycare can be “really challenging” for operators, said Thomas.

There is a large shortage of early childhood educators in B.C., something the province has tried to mitigate with free schooling and wage top ups. But as daycare operators compete for staff and strive to pay a living wage, those costs are passed onto families.

Tim Ropchan, executive director of Childhood Connections, says that the high cost of living in Kelowna is also pushing families away, which may help the daycare crunch.

“In the last year, there's been a substantial amount of families who've left the Okanagan due to affordability,” he said.

“So instead of seeing that continued influx that we were for—I think it was three or four years seeing massive amounts of growth—quite a few families with young kids have left the area because of affordability. So potentially, the need for childcare has shifted in the last year.”

But with waitlists years long and families being advised to sign up on waitlists the minute they get pregnant, there is still a massive shortfall to fill.

“There's still a lot of work needed to enhance the availability and accessibility of childcare and making it affordable for families,” Thomas said, recommending families in search of childcare contact the YMCA's childcare referral program.

The issues of childcare has gotten limited play in the federal election. No major party has released a formal platform at this stage, but Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said last week he would not cut the Liberals' $10-per-day program.

“We will protect these programs and nobody who has them will lose them,” Poilievre said.