Extended Hours, Overnight Child-Care Pilot for Healthcare Workers in Sydney

The Province is partnering with a child-care centre in Sydney to provide evening, weekend and overnight child-care options to healthcare workers at Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

The demonstration project at Health Park Early Learning Centre, located near the hospital, will launch this fall once appropriate policies, procedures and staff are in place. It will be evaluated after six months.

“We know that finding child care outside of regular operating hours is a challenge for many healthcare workers,” said Becky Druhan, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. “By offering extended hours and overnight care at a facility that they already know and trust, we are giving families one less thing to think about when they’re providing critical care to Nova Scotians.”

When the demonstration project launches, Health Park Early Learning Centre will be able to offer 12 spaces for overnight care and run at full capacity (66 spaces) on weekends and for extended hours on weekdays. The centre is working with interested families to identify participants with a focus on children four years of age and younger.

The project is another investment by the Province in modernizing the child-care system and ensuring families have access to reliable and available care when and where they need it. Recruiting and retaining healthcare workers and improving the workplace are part of Action for Health, the Province’s strategic plan to improve healthcare.

Quotes:

“Families, no matter where they live, should have access to high-quality, affordable early learning and child care. Today’s announcement is a prime example of the flexible, family-focused approach to child care that the Canada-wide early learning and child care system is built to support. I congratulate everyone involved in this demonstration project, and I am eager to see the difference this makes in the lives of the regional hospital family.”

– Jenna Sudds, federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

“Delivering healthcare isn’t a nine-to-five job. The toll that shift work can take on workers and their families, especially children, can be hard. This is a great opportunity for us to explore a new and innovative way to help those who care for our friends and family in their time of need.”

– Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness

“We need to think outside the box when it comes to meeting the needs of our growing population. We have an opportunity to show we’re forward-thinking on the island and are doing what we can to attract healthcare professionals. Not all families fit into the cookie cutter nine-to-five schedule, and I have been wanting to do this for a while now. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the Department on this project.”

– Helen Gamble, Owner, Health Park Early Learning Centre

“My husband is a family doctor who leaves the house by 5:30 every morning and often works through to the evening. Our home life is very much designed around his job and had we not found child care that meets our needs, I would not have been able to work, contribute to our economy and I would only be a fraction of who I was meant to be.”

– Karla Bray, parent, Cape Breton Regional Municipality

“Incentives and career opportunities promote physician recruitment, but services like Health Park are the drivers that retain them. Ensuring that healthcare providers’ children and families are cared for while we provide care to the community is of utmost importance and greatly improves overall quality of life. Without proper, predictable care for our children, we cannot meet the healthcare needs of the community. The extended hours program will become a blessing for families and to the community as a whole.”

– Dr. Kayla Choo Chong, parent, and child and adolescent psychiatrist, Cape Breton Regional Hospital

Quick Facts:

• the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement 2021-2026 supports investment in innovative programs and activities to test new approaches to providing non-traditional hours of child care
• Nova Scotia has increased its investment in early learning and child care by $83 million, for a total investment of $277 million in 2023
• through the Canada-Nova Scotia agreement, the Government of Canada is contributing $605 million over five years for early learning and child care in Nova Scotia

Additional Resources:

More information on early learning and child care is available at: https://childcarenovascotia.ca/

To receive regular updates about childcare in Nova Scotia via newsletter: https://childcarenovascotia.ca/latest-news

Action for Health: https://novascotia.ca/actionforhealth/