Kailen Harte, assistant director of children’s services and Chris Cable, director of children’s services, show off the space in the MFRC on Aug. 27, being redesigned to accommodate more pre-school childcare spaces at CFB Shilo. (Photo:K-J Millar/Shilo Stag)

K-J Millar
Shilo Stag Media

Here we grow again! The Shilo Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) Daycare is nurturing development alongside your child, with construction underway to accommodate an additional 24 children.

The new pre-school-aged facility is being built in existing and repurposed space and comes on the heels of the June 2024 expansion, which added 14 new spaces for the infant room. Once construction has finished, the Base daycare centre will have room for 152 little humans.

Director of Children’s Services at the MFRC, Chris Cable, said that despite the renovation and exponential expansion, there is still a current waitlist of 135 families needing childcare placements. The new 24 spaces will be filled from names already on the waiting list. She said when it’s time and everything is lined up, families on the waiting list will be contacted and offered a space accordingly.

“We’re excited to provide quality, licensed child care facility spots to the community,” she said.

Lining everything up includes finishing the construction, which is due for completion at the end of October, passing the provincial permitting inspection to obtain their green license and hiring new staff.

All the paperwork is completed and ready to send off once construction is finalized, Cable said.

“Right now, everything is in good standing and up to date,” she said, explaining that provincial requirements are for 66 per cent or two-thirds of staff to be fully trained. The MFRC daycare centre currently has an 83 per cent trained staff rate.

Recruiting for five new staff will start shortly. The MFRC will be accepting applications for a certified Early Childhood Educator (ECE) in a supervisory role, two ECEs with a two-year diploma, and two child care assistants (CCAs).

“The new availability will take the pressure off the community,” Cable said. “With $10 a day childcare, the new spots are a benefit to military families and the community as a whole. “