The County of Wellington has been granted $2.08 million from the Ministry of Education to open a new Child Care and Learning Centre in Aboyne in 2019.
The new facility will be operated by the county’s Children’s Early Years Division and will create 64 new child care spaces for children up to four years old.
The majority of the funding for the project comes from the Ontario government’s Community-Based Early Years and Child Care Capital Program (CBCP), which supports commitments outlined under the Canada-Ontario Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
The balance of the funding will be provided through the county’s property reserve.
A groundbreaking ceremony to officially launch the Wellington Place Child Care and Learning Centre will be held at 11am on Sept. 14 at the Wellington Place grounds in Aboyne (0536 Wellington County Road 18).
This is a public event, and all Wellington County residents are invited.
“With Centre Wellington’s growing population and dynamic employment sector, this facility will significantly help families with young children find adequate, high quality, flexible child care,” said Warden Dennis Lever.
“The centre will be very centrally located, close to a number of cultural and educational amenities, which will greatly enrich the facility’s teaching experience.”
Luisa Artuso, county director of the county’s Children’s Early Years Division, said, “Like many of our member municipalities, the Township of Centre Wellington has a significant shortfall of full-time, full-year licensed child care spaces for children ages birth to four years.”
Artuso added, “This community is listed as one of top three priorities in the Wellington Children’s Early Years’ Service Plan, and we look forward to helping address this shortage with our new facility.”
The centre will also include four activity rooms, secure outdoor play areas for each age group, a family meeting room, kitchen, laundry facilities and a universal washroom.
The project will be designed by The Ventin Group Ltd., and Demikon Construction Ltd. has been hired as the contractor.
The new facility will be located in Wellington Place, down the road from the Wellington County Museum and Archives, the Wellington Terrace, a number of county trails, and the new Groves Hospital.
The centre will give priority to all families who reside in Wellington.
Additional information about the centre can be found at www.wellington.ca.
