Lambton County is trying to encourage people to open their own home daycare business.

A new federal/provincial program will create 541 new day care spaces in Lambton – 67 are slated for Petrolia and Wyoming. County officials say they will focusing on licensing home day care providers since the province is offering only $90 per square foot to build new child care centres when the going construction rate is up to $400 per square foot.

On May 16, Lambton Rural Childcare and Wee Watch – the two organizations tasked with monitoring home day cares – will be holding an open house to talk about what it takes to start and run a business.

“If there are people out there who love children and want to grow a successful business but haven’t taken the leap yet, we are here to encourage and support them to realize their dream.” says Lori Veroude, Executive Director for Lambton Rural Child Care.

Owning a licensed home child care business provides the opportunity to work from home, establish lifelong relationships, and have control over one’s own business. In addition, obtaining an Early Childhood Education (ECE) registration is not necessary to start a licensed home child care business, she adds in a news release.

While Lambton tried to gear up its home child care options, the Petrolia Childcare Advocacy Group which is appealing to the town to start a municipally run daycare saying only a dedicated day care is a completely safe option for parents.

Petrolia has already waived some of the fees to set up home day cares to encourage more people to help meet the community’s need.