New spaces are opening through the Aboriginal Head Start program in the Westshore

The provincial government announced on Tuesday that more funded Indigenous daycare spaces were coming to Colwood’s Hulitan Early Years Centre.  

The facility is supported through Aboriginal Head Start (AHS) and the 48 new spaces provided will be fully funded, allowing the centre to have a higher staff-to-child ratio.

AHS is an early-learning and child care program for Indigenous children up to age six and their families. The program also provides inclusion services and wraparound support for families at no cost. 

Indigenous child care advocates and service providers in the province and the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society (BCACCS) have been working to provide and regulate Indigenous child care within current legislative and regulatory frameworks. Ultimately, they would like to see Indigenous child care operate beyond them.

In their 2020 report Advancing Jurisdiction Over Indigenous Childcare, BCACCS refers to “the early learning and child care approaches, programs and services delivered to Indigenous children throughout Indigenous territories, including on and off reserve, as well as the facilities through which such approaches, programs and services are delivered.”

They cite the 12th of the 94 Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, “federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families,” and relevant articles of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (annexed in Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act—DRIPA): 

• 13(1) Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. 

• 14(1) Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning. 

• 14(3) States shall, in conjunction with Indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for Indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language.

The six key components of the AHS program reflect these rights and include culture and language, education, health promotion, nutrition, social support and parent/family involvement and three foundational components: beliefs and values, accountability/management and leadership/staffing. 

“We want to help people heal and be proud of who they are,” said Kendra Gage, Hulitan Family and Community Services Society executive director.

"Aboriginal Head Start Association of British Columbia (AHSABC) is growing culturally rich spaces in a big way," said Joan Gignac, executive director of AHSABC in a news release about the additional seats. "829 AHS-licenced full-day childcare spaces have been created since 2018 in 23 communities across B.C. This has been life-changing for Indigenous families." 

Along with Colwood, two more spaces will open in Kelowna and Vancouver, for a total of 108 new spaces in childcare centres across the province.

A spokesperson for the City of Colwood told The Westshore, “Understanding the need for more child care spaces and trauma-informed services, the city supported creation of the child care facility on Sooke Road with fee reductions and grant contributions of over $300k. Colwood Council is pleased to support opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children to learn and grow alongside each other in a way that supports Colwood's continuing efforts toward reconciliation and deepening our relationships with Indigenous neighbours.”

Colwood council voted unanimously in December 2022 in favour of supporting the 97 new child care spaces planned for by Hulitan Family and Community Services on property provided by School District 62 at Colwood Elementary School on Sooke Road. The project is managed by M’akola Development Services, a not-for-profit society that is helping to build affordable and sustainable vibrant and diverse communities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals and families across British Columbia.

“The opening of these new Aboriginal Head Start spaces are making a real difference for Indigenous families, ensuring that their children can learn and grow in environments that reflect and celebrate their cultures,” said Rachna Singh, BC minister of education and child care. “These spaces support Indigenous children’s growth and learning, while also providing opportunities to further strengthen their communities and cultures.”

AHS funding is supported by a combination of provincial funding, the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.