Province funding new child care facility at Kelowna Airport

A new child care facility is ready to take off at Kelowna International Airport.

The province has announced $3 million for the Kelowna Airport YMCA Child Care facility from the ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund.

Concept design of Kelowna Airport YMCA Child Care facility. (Image credit: City of Kelowna)

The City of Kelowna, Kelowna International Airport (YLW), KF Aerospace and the YMCA are partnering to provide the facility which will have 86 spaces: 12 for infant-toddler age; 50 spaces for ages 2.5 years to kindergarten age and 24 spaces for school age kids.

“It’s exciting that parents working in and around the Kelowna airport will soon have access to convenient child care right on-site to make their lives easier and give them peace of mind knowing their kids are accessing early learning close by,” said Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care. “Since 2018, we have funded 16 child care projects to create 1,023 new licensed child care spaces in Kelowna.”

The facility will be managed by the YMCA Okanagan.

Groundbreaking for the centre will take place later this year with an anticipated opening of spring 2023.

“We are so excited to be able to collaborate with KF Aerospace and the YMCA to provide this childcare facility. As the airport community continues to grow, there will be increased demand for a child care facility on our campus,” says Sam Samaddar, Airport Director with the Kelowna International Airport. “This child care facility will support the unique staffing requirements of the airport campus and the greater community.”

KF Aerospace is a funding partner for the venture and was instrumental in bringing partners together in the development of this facility.

“We are very pleased to partner with the airport, city, province and YMCA to develop this very important employee benefit for our staff,” says Grant Stevens, Chief Corporate Services Officer of KF Aerospace. “As we continue to grow our staffing, we have a goal of removing barriers and increasing diversity in our trades. Access to daycare is critical to ensuring we meet this goal and addressing work-life balance of all our employees.”