GUELPH – In order to meet the needs of the community, the Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) is receiving $2.1 million in funding for new a childcare centre in Guelph.
The new centre will be located on the site of St. Patrick Catholic School on Victoria Road.
WCDSB director of education Mike Glazier informed the board of the news in a Feb. 7 board meeting.
“We’re very happy to have that at St. Patrick’s and we will look for an opportunity to doing a ground break at some point in the future,” Glazier said.
The new childcare centre, once completed, will create 64 new spaces, including one infant room, two toddler rooms and one preschool room.
The funding is provided through the province’s Early Years Capital Program.
In an email, Wellington County director of Children’s Early Years Division Luisa Artuso said as the consolidated municipal manager for childcare in Guelph and Wellington, the county submitted the application for the new centre in partnership with WCDSB.
The application was approved in January following an identified need for additional childcare in the north end of Guelph.
“This area in Guelph has been historically identified as being underserved,” Artuso said of the location.
“This continues to be realized given the population growth in this area.
“We feel that measures should be taken to, at the very least, secure the current available childcare spaces in this area should an operator wish to relocate to this new build.”
The operator for the centre, which Glazier said will be named at a later date, is required to have a Purchase of Service Agreement with the county in order to be eligible to receive operating grants from the county, Artuso explained.
The operator is also required to “enrol children whose families are in receipt of fee subsidies” – a program for families in Guelph and Wellington that’s provided through the Children’s Early Years Division and social services in the County of Wellington.
In terms of next steps, Artuso said the county will participate in the request for proposal process to determine the licensed operator for the centre.
“If all goes well with construction, which Wellington Catholic is overseeing, we hope the centre will open late spring/early fall of 2023,” she said.
