UBC opened a new child care centre in Brock Commons South, welcoming 37 children at the start of August.
Heron’s Landing Child Care Centre is part of UBC's Child Care Expansion Plan aimed at reaching 1,200 total child care spaces by 2041. The plan began in 2009 and was updated in 2018.
“The reason for opening more child care centres on the UBC campus is that there is a demand for child care we cannot meet here at UBC, also in British Columbia, and also across Canada,” said Karen Vaughan, director of UBC Child Care Services.
In 2017, there were 814 child care spaces on campus — 629 of them were run by UBC Child Care Services, while the remaining 25 spaces were managed by the University Neighbourhoods Association. UBC is “the largest provider of on-campus child care in North America,” according to the expansion plan.
The Child Care Program “prioritizes parents and guardians who study, work, teach and research in the campus community,” stated a UBC press release about the new space.
It also said “40 percent of child care spaces are allocated to student families,” while distributing the rest “based on enrolment policies and the waitlist.”
Vaughan said as the campus communities grow, UBC will be “unable to meet the needs” of the child care demand for students, staff and faculty. She said all child care spaces will be full by November 1.
Vaughan also said new child care spaces are in progress, with 24 openings in Orchard Commons and 37 openings in St. John’s College, ready to welcome children in May 2026 and fall 2029, respectively.
“It takes a long time to build the child cares through all of the funding requirements and the regulations that we have to meet through the health authority,” said Vaughan.
Vaughan also said UBC is updating its Child Care Expansion Plan. She said the plan hopes that “any new academic building built on campus should at least consider child care as part of the new build.”
“Children deserve attention and care and education ... and so, for people who need to work and go to school, child care is critical,” said Vaughan.
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