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Your B.C. Government

For Children

Your B.C. Government is making record investments in education, child care and supports for children with special needs. This is to ensure that every child has the support they need to grow into healthy, successful adults because children are the future of our province.

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Child CareChildren and Youth with Special NeedsChildren's Healthy LivingClass Size and TeachersEarly Childhood CareEarly Learning and Early Child DevelopmentK-12 Investment in SchoolsParental Choice and InvolvementYour Voice

What your B.C. Government is doing for children:

  • Your B.C. government makes a significant investment of more than $600 million each year for services for children and youth with significant special needs and their families, this is in addition to school district funding.
  • B.C. is the first province in Canada to adopt Jordan’s Principle, which commits government to protect Aboriginal children regardless of who, or which level of government is responsible.
  • Introduced the Amber Alert system to B.C.
  • Your B.C. Government has nearly doubled annual adoptions, since 2001, from 165 in 2000/2001 to 320 in 2007/08. Over the past five years, an average of 300 children have been adopted annually.
  • Your BC government provides funding to support approximately 90,000 licensed spaces throughout the province – double the number of spaces receiving funding in 2001.
  • The Province is investing $43 million to establish 400 StrongStart BC centres across B.C. Currently there are 202 StrongStart BC centres in operation across the province, offering early learning opportunities for families with children who have not yet started Kindergarten.
  • Thirty minutes of daily physical activity is now mandatory for all K-12 students in B.C. schools, and $35 million has been invested in healthy schools initiatives since 2001.
  • K-12 education spending is at the highest level ever – $5.774 billion – a $1.456 billion, or 34 per cent increase since 2000-2001, despite declining enrolment of nearly 53,000 students over the same period.
  • Per pupil funding is also the highest ever – an estimated $8,323 per student in 2009-2010 – an increase of $2,107 per-student since 2000-2001 (33 per cent).
Funding For More Child Care Spaces

ActNow BC

Children's Education Fund

AchieveBC

Child Abuse Stops Here

Healthy Schools

ReadNowBC

StrongStart BC

Healthy Kids Program

Families First