Wee College opening non-profit childcare centre

Wee College opening not-for-profit centre after seeing the need for childcare in Moncton area

Published Feb 26, 2024 • Last updated Feb 27, 2024 • 4 minute read

Wee College plans to open a not-for-profit childcare centre on MacNaughton Avenue in Moncton in May. Founder and CEO Melody Munro said the decision was made given the need for childcare in the Moncton area. Photo by Submitted

A popular New Brunswick childcare business is adding a not-for-profit centre to its portfolio.

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Melody Munro, the founder and CEO of Wee College, said her organization will be opening a non-profit centre called Wee Thrive in Moncton this spring.

Munro said Wee College, which has private child care centres in Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe, Salisbury, and Fredericton, wanted to expand their social entrepreneur work in the community and meet childcare needs in the region.

“It’s really to align with our own core values,” said Munro. “From the beginning, we are community service and we’re about being inclusive.”

The not-for-profit centre will be overseen by a board of directors instead of an owner, and will have a parent committee, Munro said, noting parent participation will be important for Wee Thrive.

The new centre is located on MacNaughton Avenue near the Caledonia Industrial Park and will accommodate 139 children. Munro said there is already a waiting list, and added there are roughly 3,000 people on their waiting list across their 14 campuses, which drove them to expand.

Given the recent reductions in childcare fees through the provincial and federal government, as well as wage subsidies for early childhood educators, Munro said both non-profit and private daycares are operating on similar budgets depending on their size.

“We’re all exactly delivering the same type of service,” she said.

Munro said the hardest part of creating the not-for-profit centre was finding a location with adequate room and outdoor play space. She said they had to look for locations in regions where the province outlined a need for child care spaces. There was a need within the Irishtown, Dieppe and Elmwood Drive areas at the time they were planning for Wee Thrive.

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The MacNaughton Avenue building has 21,000 square feet with courtyards and outdoor space near a forested area for both indoor and outdoor learning. Munro said it is undergoing major renovations to retrofit it into a child care facility complete with classrooms, offices, an industrial kitchen, and a parent’s lounge.

Some of the renovations include the sprinkler system, flooring, HVAC, and heating systems.

“It’s going to be absolutely beautiful,” Munro said.

One of the benefits of adding a not-for-profit centre is the ability to apply for grants and funding for non-profit organizations, as well as fundraising. Munro said there is a possibility of creating a foundation to support initiatives for more scholarships. Wee College currently offers some scholarships through funds from parent fees and government fees, she noted.

Munro said they hope to open the new centre in May. Families interested in the new centre can enroll their children online at the Wee College website.

In the future, Wee College plans to add more not-for-profit and private centres depending on the needs of the community, she said.

“I think we’d like to see the Wee family grow,” Munro said.

Charles Renshaw, spokesperson for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, said in an email that as of Monday there are 242 not-for-profit childcare centres and 505 for-profit centres in New Brunswick.

According to the department, a not-for-profit child-care centre is operated by a board of directors that consists of parents using the centre and representatives from the community, as outlined in the Licensing Regulation of the Early Childhood Services Act. These regulations require that the board of directors consists of at least five elected members, of which at least 20 per cent are parents or guardians of children receiving services at the centre.

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Operational decisions are made by the board, which is recognized as the owner/operator of the facility, and the surplus budget is reinvested in the organization and cannot be used for personal gains.

Renshaw said the department launched an open call for proposals in December 2023 to create designated preschool early learning and child-care spaces. Staff are available in each school district to work with and guide potential operators through the call for proposals process.

For opening a new designated facility, operators of home facilities can receive up to $6,000, and operators of for-profit and not-for-profit centres can receive up to $270,000 in designation startup funding.

One-time grants of $5,000 per infant space and $500 per preschool space are available to all operators through the New Space Creation Implementation Grant, said Renshaw.

To support existing operators who increase the number of infant spaces in their current designated facilities, the Expansion for Infant Spaces Grant offers $3,000 for each new space created in a home facility, and $10,000 for each space created in a for-profit or not-for-profit centre.

“This call for proposals will continue to be guided by a data-driven process to determine where new designated spaces should be available,” said Renshaw. “To encourage the creation of child-care spaces in smaller communities, those seeking to open a designated early learning and child-care home do not need to go through the call for proposals process or use the space allocation grid.”

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