BEAVER BANK: Standing at a muddy construction site on Windgate Drive, federal and provincial officials announced Monday morning more than $2 million in funding toward a new child-care facility expected to create 194 spaces in the growing Beaver Bank area.
The new centre, being built by the It Takes a Village Daycare Society, is expected to open by December 2026. It will include 20 infant spaces, an area identified as being in particularly high demand, and the building will be three storeys.
The project carries a total estimated cost of about $5.1 million, with the remainder of the funding coming through financing.
The announcement was made by Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank MLA Brian Wong and Sackville-Bedford-Preston MP Braedon Clark.
Wong called the project “truly exciting news” for families in the area, saying parents regularly contact his office asking when more child-care spaces will become available.
“There are 194 additional spaces, which means 194 more families will gain access to care and the support they need during those critical early years,” Wong said.
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He said the project is the 17th announced under Nova Scotia’s major child-care infrastructure program since 2021 and noted the province has now surpassed its goal of creating 9,500 new child-care spaces, with more than 9,600 spaces added provincewide.
Wong also pointed to provincial investments in higher wages, pension benefits and workforce training for early childhood educators as part of broader efforts to strengthen the sector.
Clark said the new centre comes as communities stretching from Lower Sackville and Beaver Bank to Fall River, Waverley, Windsor Junction, and Enfield continue to see rapid growth.
“There’s an increasing demand for child-care spaces. We see it, we feel it,” Clark said.
“This is an exciting opportunity for parents to have some confidence in the system that they’ll be able to have good quality childcare and a good location close to their homes.”
Clark said the addition of 20 infant spaces is especially important because infant care remains among the hardest spaces for families to secure.
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Executive director Mehrad Mohammadkhani said demand is already evident based on waitlists at the society’s existing locations.
The organization currently operates 154 spaces between two centres, but has more than 1,700 children on waitlists. Some families are already registering babies for care years in advance, he said.
Mohammadkhani said the Windgate Drive location was selected because it can serve multiple surrounding communities, while helping address a shortage of nearby daycare facilities.
“We thought that it has very good access and we could support different areas at the same time,” he said, noting families from Sackville, Fall River, Beaver Bank and surrounding communities would all be eligible to attend.
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He said there will be no geographic boundaries for children attending the new centre, but families from the surrounding communities will be prioritized when possible.
“We definitely prioritize the families in this community in particular,” Mohammadkhani said, adding placements will also depend on factors such as when applications are submitted and what age category spaces are available.
He said the provincial infrastructure funding was critical to making the project possible.
“That was the major factor, to be honest,” Mohammadkhani said. “If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be having this.”
Funding for the project comes through the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which supports expanding access to affordable and inclusive child care across the province.
