Local licenced daycares could soon benefit from recently announced grant funding courtesy of the Town of Niverville. At a June 21 public meeting, the town’s council approved a motion for a new initiative to provide up to $20,000 to potential daycare provider applicants.
“We recognize that we have a lot of young families, which means we have a lot of children,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “Also, it’s to help our [business sector]. We know that they need employees. And if people had access to daycare, would that mean some might be able to enter the workforce and help?”
The one-time grant has the potential to be portioned out to a maximum of ten applicants at $2,000 per applicant. The hope is to encourage new licenced daycare start-ups or current daycare provider expansions.
In the case of expansion, daycares would need to be apply to the province and be approved for a minimum of five additional spots in order to qualify for the town grant.
Council will provide few restrictions on how the funds are to be used. It could prove helpful in cases where improvements such as fencing and play structures are needed. The grant could also assist with overhead costs when additional daycare spots are created.
According to Niverville’s CAO Eric King, there are currently three licenced daycare facilities operating in the community, if the entirety of Growing Minds is considered to be one facility.
