CANSO — After years of wandering in a virtual childcare desert, Canso parents are set to welcome their first locally licensed daycare facility – an 18-space centre for toddlers and preschoolers inside the Fanning Education Centre/Canso Academy – under a joint provincial-federal initiative to expand such services in rural Nova Scotia.
“It’s brand new,” Krista Higdon, spokesperson for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, confirmed in an email to The Journal last week. “The project involves renovating an unused space within the school to create licensed early learning and child-care spaces for children.”
According to Higdon, “the idea to locate the centre within the school emerged from the community’s identified need for childcare spaces and subsequent discussions between the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Strait Regional Centre for Education (SRCE). Both have been working closely with the Department of Public Works over the past year to advance planning.”
In an email to The Journal, Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) Warden Paul Long said the initiative is both necessary and timely.
“Having a licensed daycare centre in Canso is an important part of the overall plan to provide more services for young families wishing to return to the area,” he wrote. “Childcare service is a necessity if we are to grow our communities.”
Guysborough-Tracadie MLA Greg Morrow concurred, adding in the official announcement that “by partnering with the Canso school, we’re supporting rural families who have historically faced challenges finding childcare close to home. [This is] is taking action to ensure the Canso community has access to the convenient, affordable childcare they deserve.”
The project is being funded through the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement – a $1-billion commitment to expand early childhood services through 2031.
To make way for the new centre, the MODG is relocating its fitness facility at Fanning to the Canso Arena, where construction on a $1.8-million expansion project is expected to finish within the next few weeks.
“The fitness centre had a longstanding relationship with the school,” MODG Deputy CAO Shawn Andrews told The Journal earlier this year. “But they had a different requirement for the space – for a daycare – so we had to relocate the facility to continue operations.”
According to Andrews at that time, the new facility – featuring a 2,000-square-foot gym, change rooms, accessible washrooms and upgraded access to the adjacent pool – could open “around Christmastime” depending on contractor timelines.
Meanwhile, “tendering for the renovation work” of the vacated space at Fanning is underway, Higdon said. “We are unable to confirm a final cost at this stage.”
She added that SRCE will issue a public request for proposals to select an operator for the centre once construction on the space is underway. “That process will outline service-delivery requirements, and once an operator is in place, more information will be shared with the community about an opening date and other program details.”
What is clear is that the facility will receive operational support from the province.
“All families will receive the province’s 50 per cent fee reduction, which is applied directly to their child-care bills,” Higdon said. “Lower-income families who need additional support may also qualify for the Nova Scotia Child Care Subsidy Program.”
Since Nova Scotia does not have a centralized registration system for childcare, families will need to contact the selected operator to inquire about availability and waitlists once that information becomes available.
The new Canso childcare centre is part of a broader push to close long-standing service gaps in the county. In March 2024, the Guysborough Early Learning Centre opened its doors, welcoming its first nine children under YMCA Cape Breton’s operation. That facility – also supported by the SRCE and funded through earlier phases of the Canada-Nova Scotia childcare agreement – marked a major milestone for the area, which until recently had no licensed centres.
At the time, YMCA CEO Sabrina Vatcher told The Journal that more than 50 families were on the centre’s wait list, and that the opening represented “an accessible, welcoming and stimulating licensed childcare environment” for as many as 26 children from three months to five years old. It was the first such licensed facility in Guysborough proper, offering structured programming and financial relief under the same national program now expanding to Canso.
According to provincial guidelines, all families enrolled in licensed facilities are eligible for the 50 per cent fee reduction. As well, the Nova Scotia Child Care Subsidy Program provides additional support to low-income households based on income, family size, and type of care required. The subsidy can cover part or all of the remaining childcare fees and is available to Nova Scotian residents with children under 12 years of age. Applications are submitted through the province’s childcare subsidy portal required documentation including proof of income and care arrangements.
With demand high and licensed spaces still limited, the province says the combined federal-provincial investments aim to make regulated early learning options more accessible across Nova Scotia’s rural communities – one centre at a time.
