Childcare Providers
The Childhood Connections Okanagan Family & Child Care Society, is able to provide the following resources to families as part of the Child Care Resource & Referral (CCRR) program and the Central Okanagan Universal Screening Initiative (COUSI).
The CCRR program is funded by the province of British Columbia to improve the quality and accessibility of child care in our community. CCRR programs provide support, resources and referrals for care providers and families, all with a focus of supporting the healthy development of children and families. We are the host organization for the Kelowna Child Care Resource & Referral Program.
Become a Child Care Provider
High-quality child care is extremely important in the lives of children and families. It helps children to develop skills they will need for the rest of their lives; it supports families in their child-rearing role by providing a warm and nurturing environment for their children as well as knowledgeable and empathetic adults who are their willing partners in this enterprise, and it plays an important role in the community’s ability to support the business of living their lives.
The first step in becoming a child care provider is determining what type of care you would like to provide.
Types of Care Providers
There are many different types of child care providers and different ways to care for children. An early Childhood Educator and Responsible Adult are two of the more popular ways to become a care provider.
Early Childhood Educator
To be qualified to work as a certified Early Childhood Educator (ECE) in B.C., you are required to complete a basic early childhood education training program from an approved training institution.
- Become an ECE – Government of BC
- Early Childhood Educators of BC (ECEBC) – Your professional Association
- Student Bursaries help you with the cost of your education
Responsible Adult
An adult over 19 years of age who has experience working with children, has completed at least 20 hours of training & can provide care and mature guidance to children.
- What is a Responsible Adult Fact sheet (PDF)
- School Age Child Care Association of BC – support and networking for school age child care providers
- Kelowna and Area Self Paced Responsible Adult Training
Types of Child Care
There are many different types of Child Care facilities, but they all fall under either Licensed Child Care or Licensed-Not-Required Child Care. below is a quick overview of each type.
License-Not-Required Child Care
A child care provider can look after a maximum of two children in addition to those related to them by blood or marriage without a community care facilities license. This is referred to as license-not-required care or LNR. You can also become a registered license-not-required child care provider or RLNR.
Contact Yvonne, CCRR Program Coordinator to begin the Registered License Not Required Process.
Licensed Child Care
In BC anyone providing care for 3 or more children not related to the operator by blood or marriage requires a community care facilities license. Licensed care can take place in an operator’s home (licensed family child care) as well as in a community or commercial setting (licensed group child care). To find out more information regarding licensed child care please contact your local Community Care Facilities licensing office.
- BC Family Child Care Association – Your professional Association
Resources for Opening a Child Care Program
Services We Provide to Support You
- Training opportunities and workshops
- Your child care listed on our parent referral data base.
- Assistance with child care subsidy applications
- Fax machine access
- Supportive home visits for family child care providers
- Networking opportunities with other child care providers
- Access to our Early Childhood Resource Library
- Best Practice Resource Samples
