Edmonton city council to consider including child care spaces in its workplaces

City of Edmonton employees could soon be bringing their children to work daily. City council’s executive committee is looking at using space in libraries, former schools and rec centres for not-for-profit daycares and early learning centres.

The idea came out of a failed attempt to include daycare space in a bus garage that was requested by the transit union. The idea was shelved at the eleventh hour because of a lack of green space and the inability to let the kids go outside. It was first considered as a way to encourage more moms to pursue a career as a bus driver.

Councillor Bev Esslinger is urging the city to be more pro-active in looking for spaces, when organizations are crying out for locations in Edmonton.

“How do we make sure we’re using all of the space where we need it the most?”

The committee agreed to develop guidelines for physical space to make sure what can be built can be designed properly, while also looking at existing city buildings to figure out if any of them might be appropriate for childcare.

“It’s not just saying, ‘oh we have extra space over here’ because then we could have three providers running to fill the need,” Esslinger said. “Is there a place of management that says, ‘who’s the best person to build there, to serve that need?’ How do we do that? Should the city play a coordinating role? That’s what we’re struggling with.”

A city report indicated of the 108 buildings the city leased to not-for-profit organizations in last year, only four were used for daycare providers.

“The gap is not just obvious, but it’s almost at a crisis proportion in some parts of the city,” Councillor Mike Nickel said.

“This was one of the core recommendations of End Poverty Edmonton, to expand the system of early learning and care,” Mayor Don Iveson said. “The city isn’t going to do that single-handily, but we have a role to play in our civic facilities, making space available.”

He speaks from experience, after going to daycare at a YMCA in Mount Pleasant.

“I still have friends from when I was three.”

The city will likely play a coordination role in finding city buildings, as well as private buildings, that could be used to create daycare spaces to be used by the children of Edmonton’s 17,000 employees.

“I had a good conversation with the school board chairs the other day about opportunities for us to think about that portfolio, of city buildings, and school board buildings and other partner buildings for not-for-profit organizations, and then get strategic about where we’re going to try to ensure there’s more space for kids and families for child care,” Iveson said.

City staff will take the next year to put together an inventory of buildings and will report back to council in the spring of 2019.