Temporary Emergency Child Care

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Request Temporary Emergency Child Care

Last Updated: June 8, 2020

This service is for families who are in need of child care for children aged infant to 12 years.

Please note:

  • Preference for care will be given to essential service workers, according to tier.
  • This form may also be used to access before and after school care or child care during the summer.
  • Children of essential service workers who are school aged can attend school full-time under Stage 3 of the K-12 Education Restart.

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How the Service Works

Working with Community Care Licensing at the Ministry of Health, we are compiling a list of all licensed child care centres that are open and have available spaces.

  • The list will be shared with all contracted Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) centres across the province
  • Each CCRR will act as a hub and match essential service workers with local child care centres that have available spaces.

Complete the Request Form

If you are working in an essential service role and are seeking care for your child(ren) aged infant to 12 years old, follow these steps:

1. Review the essential service worker list

Review the updated list of essential service workers to determine which tier your job falls within.

Open child care facilities are to prioritize placements for those children whose parents are employed in:

  • Health and Health Services
  • Social Services
  • Law Enforcement
  • First Responders
  • Emergency Response

2. Request temporary emergency child care

Complete the form:

Request Child Care in B.C.

3. Wait to be contacted

Once the form is submitted, the selected local CCRR centre will contact you to begin the process of finding available child care space in your area.

Child Care Priority by Essential Service Type

Child care providers in receipt of Temporary Emergency Funding will prioritize placements for your children based on the essential services workers list using the following tiered system:

Tier 1 – Highest Priority

Health and Health Services

  • Social Services
  • Law Enforcement
  • First Responders and Emergency Response
  • Children approved to access care at a designated Young Parent Program and/or referred to the child care facility by MCFD and Delegated Aboriginal Agency social workers

Tier 2 – Second Priority​

  • All other occupations not included in Tier 1 that are listed on the essential service workers list
  • This includes grocery workers and others working as critical infrastructure service providers

Tier 3 – Third Priority

  • All other families not employed in an occupation listed on the essential service workers list
  • Accepting families in the third tier is not required but providers may offer spaces to families in other fields of work who are unable to care for their children at home during this time