Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Twenty-five local workers will be offered jobs, and 125 families will soon have daycare for their little ones thanks to two new Lambton Rural Child Care centres opening this fall.

“It’s a win-win in terms of new employment and childcare spaces,” says Lori Veroude, Lambton Rural Child Care’s (LRCC) executive director.

A $6.9 million LRCC childcare centre with 73 spaces is being constructed next to Meadowview Villa near Petrolia in Enniskillen Township. It’s expected to be completed in late November, said Veroude.

“The building is on schedule, so we are hiring,” she said. “We expect to open the doors by the end of December.”

Additionally, a new LRCC Centre with another 52 new spaces is about to open on Colborne Drive in Corunna in the former St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

A job fair is scheduled for this Thursday (Sept. 10) from 9 a.m. to noon at the LRCC offices on Petrolia Line in the former Bank of Nova Scotia building to hire staff for both new centres and fill vacant positions in existing LRCC centres in Brooke-Alvinston, Dresden and Camlachie.

Registered Early Childhood Educators (ECE), supervisors, Educational Assistants and cooks are urged to apply at the job fair. At least some will be interviewed on the spot, said LRCC Human Resources Co-ordinator Tyler Kettler.

The ECE field is somewhat challenging for employers, he said. “It’s fairly hard to find ECE grads and retention is difficult because so many places are hiring.”

All new hires will start work by the end of the year, and some will start right away, said Veroude.

Lambton County – which provides local daycare and currently has 4,589 licensed childcare spaces – was handed provincial funding in 2023 to add 758 more spaces by the end of 2026. That funding was in conjunction with the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care program, which also aimed to reduce daycare costs.

The county expects to meet its goal and provide the 758 new spaces, said Rachel Veilleux of the social services division.

Dozens of families will be offered childcare at the new centres and will pay an average cost of about $20.87 per day.

But many others will still be on a wait list co-ordinated by the county. Numbers on that list often fluctuate, however, as of Tuesday there were 2,044 children of all ages waiting for daycare placement with preferred start dates between Sept. 2026 and Sept. 2029.

“We recommend getting on the wait list as soon as you know (you’re pregnant),” said Kettler. The list can be accessed at lambtononline.ca/childrensservices.

Lambton Rural Child Care responded to a request for proposals to provide more spaces through the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care and will be operating the new Petrolia and Corunna centres.

Private licensed daycares and expanded school sites for before and after school programs, have also received a portion of the money.