County councillors have agreed to use provincial funding to hire an architect to investigate the feasibility of building a new facility at Lambton Meadowview Villa in Petrolia.
While progress has been made to address the need in Sarnia, Melissa Fitzpatrick, who manages children’s services for the county, said Petrolia and Enniskillen continue to have the greatest need with hundreds of children on waitlists.
"In terms of value for money, it's county owned land that we wouldn't have to purchase," said Fitzpatrick. "So, we would co-locate with Lambton Meadowview Villa. The land is at no charge, so it would be the cost of the capital versus if we went to other locations, we would have to purchase the land."
Based on 2021 census data, only one in every four, or 25 per cent, of children aged zero to five years old have access to a licensed child care space in Lambton County.
"We have made tremendous gains since entering into pandemic recovery," said Fitzpatrick. "Initially we were about 60 per cent capacity and now we're up to about 77 per cent. So, it is taking some time. Most of the reduction in capacity was due to workforce shortages, unfortunately with staff leaving the sector through the pandemic."
Fitzpatick said they've been working hard to add new spaces and meet their directed growth target.
"We continue to recruit, retain, and attract new staff to the sector. At the same time, we want to start building new spaces, so that by the end of 2026 we've met our growth target," she said.
Fitzpatrick said non-profit child care operators will be considered before a municipally run facility is.
"To date, we've approved 250 new spaces. So, that's just in our first year of our growth plan and we have until 2026 to meet our target of 573 spaces. We continue to have weekly, or daily, conversations with our non-profit sector," said Fitzpatrick. "They're very eager, they're very willing to expand and grow child care. Right now the biggest barrier is lack of capital."
Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley endorsed the idea of a new facility, that could accommodate up to 90 child care spaces, on Petrolia Line.
"I strongly think, because of the demand in the area, we need to do this. I think the location is an excellent location," said Loosley.