Types of Child Care:

Licensed Group

Licensed Group Care Centres are required to have teachers trained as Early Childhood Educators. Children are divided by age group. In an infant/toddler centre, there is a one to four staff ratio. In a centre for children age three to five years, there is a one to eight staff ratio. Other licensing regulations include health and safety inspections.

Multi-Age Child Care

A program that provides, within each group, care to children of various ages;

Licensed Family

A license is required whenever a person cares for more than two children not related by blood or marriage. Family child care will provide opportunity for social, emotional, physical and intellectual growth in a home environment for children from birth to 12 years. Licensed family care may be provided for a maximum of 7 children (including the caregivers own children). A maximum of five children may be preschoolers (school-age children can fill other spaces). Three of the preschool children may be under the age of 36 months with only one under the age of 12 months. Some regulations vary by municipality. Every licensed family child care provider in BC must abide by the Child Care Licensing Regulation (check out our links for more information). Some of the requirements to obtain a license include: criminal record check, current first aid certificate and a health and safety home inspection.

In-Home Multi-Age Child Care

A program in which the licensee personally provides care, within the licensee's personal residence, to no more than 8 children of various ages.

License-Not-Required

This is a term used to describe a person caring for up to two children (not including their own and those related by blood or marriage) who has chosen to become registered through the PacificCARE program. If a caregiver wants to have access to parent referrals through the PacificCARE database, she/he must meet the requirements of our membership. These include basic minimum requirements that are similar to licensing, such as a criminal record check, current first aid certificate and a health and safety home inspection. Not only do LNR providers benefit from free access to parent referrals, but they also receive the expert support of a child care consultant and other resources.

Live Out Nanny

Nannies are caregivers that are able to come to your home to look after your children and then leave. (PacificCARE is not presently recruiting Live-Out-Nannies.)

Preschool

Licensed preschools are staffed by trained Early Childhood Educators and are for children age three to five years old. Children can be in care for no more than four hours a day and the staff ratio is one to fifteen. Most parents choose a preschool option when they are looking for a more structured learning environment, want socialization opportunities for their preschooler and are not requiring full time daycare.

Out of School Care

Licensed out of school care does not have a specific training requirement for staff. The children are in a ratio of about two to twenty. Children frequently attend before school starts and then after school gets out. They may or may not offer full day programming on professional development days and other school holidays. Out of school care may be offered on the site of the school or in an off site facility.

Unregulated

In British Columbia, anyone is permitted to care for up to two children, in addition to their own. There is no requirement for these caregivers to have a license or be regulated in any way. However, if a caregiver is interested in receiving parent referrals, they must either obtain a license through the Ministry of Health, or become registered with PacificCARE. In addition, monitoring and education have been shown to have a strong link with improved quality of care. If you as a parent plan to leave your child in the care of a stranger, it is strongly recommended that you look for a provider who is Licensed or has met the requirement to be "License-Not-Required" through the PacificCARE program. If you as a caregiver want to provide service to non-family members, it is highly recommended that you become regulated or registered in order to indicate to parents that you care about providing quality child care.