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Cranbrook, BC (April 9, 2026) – The design phase is well underway for the new Child Care centre in Cranbrook to be built next to Western Financial Place. This important project will help meet the community’s growing demand for quality child care, by providing 123 new child care spaces for young local families and working parents in Cranbrook.

This facility will serve children from infancy to age 5 with dedicated program areas designed to support their different developmental needs. The 0 to 3 years of age program space will include an activity area, a nap room, washrooms, storage area, and a shared kitchen space. The 3 to 5 years of age program area will include an indoor activity area, a multi-purpose room, washrooms, and a shared kitchen space. Each program space includes an appropriately sized enclosed outdoor play space on site.

The building (to be roughly 13,000 square feet) is to feature inviting, child-friendly spaces with plenty of large windows for natural light, with mass-timber structural elements to give the centre a warm, natural feel. The building will also include administration office spaces, a staff room, laundry and recycling areas, a sensory room and other support spaces.

Berry Architecture and Associates is the lead Architect that is leading the building design and site preparation, drawing on its full-service community facilities expertise, providing full service design solutions.

Unitech Construction Management has a strong Kootenay track record and will lead all aspects of the construction delivery, including trade procurement, on-site coordination, and safety management, with a focus on cost control, schedule, and quality. 

Saltair Childcare Society is a community-based operator committed to safe, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate early learning. As the centre operator, Saltair will deliver licensed childcare programs that support families and strengthen community well-being and commits to government affordability initiatives and sustained educator training in order to deliver high quality care. 

Construction is expected to begin later this spring, with the centre opening its doors in early 2028. Opportunities to add your child to the waitlist for child care will come at a later date.

The City of Cranbrook is grateful for the $13.5 million grant funding from the Government of BC through ChildcareBC and the Ministry of Education and Child Care for this project, and for their continued support in helping make this vital project for Cranbrook families a reality. The ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund is jointly supported by provincial investments and federal funding under the Canada – British Columbia Canada-Wide Learning and Child Care Agreement. British Columbia and the federal government signed an extension to the agreement until 2030-2031.

**Project drawings courtesy of berry architecture