Heather Wright/The Independent

The new licensed child care facility planned for Meadowview Villa is growing.

Wednesday, Lambton County councillors approved a plan which would add 24 more spaces to the facility, serving 73 children in total.

Kim Godin, manager of children’s services in Lambton writes in a report to council that the Ministry of Education recently reviewed the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement, looking for communities with the greatest need for child care. Lambton was one of 16 communities to be offered additional funding. The county will receive $4.7 million to create another 185 spaces under the plan. Twenty-four of those will be part of the Petrolia-area project.

“The new facility will provide a total of 73 new licensed child care spaces, including 10 infant, 15 toddler, and 48 preschool spaces for children ages 0 to 4,” Godin writes adding an additional $1.12 million in provincial funding will cover the entire cost of the expansion bringing the project to nearly $7 million.

When the project was first approved, Godin said Petrolia was “historically underserved” and the population is expected to grow by 20 per cent in the next 10 years. There are 300 children waiting for a child care spot in Petrolia, she added saying to meet provincial targets for child care access, the town would need an additional 120 spaces.

Local child care advocates have said while providing space the licenced spaces is positive, they’re concerned about finding qualified people to staff the facility.

Lambton County councillors may approve the report proposing the additional spaces Wednesday.
Construction is expected to be complete in 2026.