48 new Métis-focused childcare spaces at reno’d community centre in Surrey

48 new Métis-focused childcare spaces at reno’d community centre in Surrey

Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Surrey’s first Métis childcare centre is set to open at a new-look Bridgeview Community Centre.

Starting in July, Métis Family Services will operate 48 new licensed childcare spaces at River & Willows Early Learning & Childcare Centre, for newborns to pre-schoolers.

Full- and part-time spaces are available at the renovated community centre, now converted to childcare use during daytime hours, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In Metro Vancouver, Métis Family Services programs serve Métis and Indigenous children and families “as well as those from the communities that our childcare programs are located in,” notes the website metisfamilyservices.ca, where parents can join a waitlist.

Fees start at $980 per month, minus an Affordable Childcare Benefit for those who qualify.

A ribbon-cutting Tuesday (June 16) involved Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, Surrey-City Centre MLA Amna Shah, project partners and some local kids.

After touring the childcare centre, Shah found it “exceptionally calming to me, and I think that the design was by intent. I truly appreciate all the thought that went into it,” she told a crowd in the community centre gym.

“I’m especially pleased that this centre is going to be operated by Métis Family Services, bringing culturally grounded care and learning opportunities for children and their families as well.”

A quick look around the new childcare facility at Bridgeview Community Centre in video by @TomZillich.

Surrey’s first Métis childcare centre is set to open at the new-look facility.

STORY HERE: https://t.co/zKxEh4Ppw0 pic.twitter.com/f3J11JARN3

— Surrey Now-Leader (@SurreyNowLeader) June 16, 2026

The centre has 24 spaces for infants and toddlers, another 24 “group” spaces for children 30 months to school age.

Locke says they add to the nearly 150 new childcare spaces opened in Surrey over the last six months at Surrey Sport & Leisure Complex in Fleetwood, Strawberry Hill Hall in Newton and other sites.

The Bridgeview project was completed with $2,371,800 in joint provincial and federal funding through ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund, plus $900,000 from Union of British Columbia Municipalities’ Child Care Space Creation Program, funded by the Province.

“Childcare spaces in Surrey is something that we are constantly looking to build more and more, but we’re getting there,” Locke told reporters. “I remember not so long ago we were talking about needing 20,000 (spaces), but we’re really developing more and more childcare spaces every day in the City of Surrey. This one is particularly special though, because it’s very targeted to Métis children and Indigenous children.”

Expanding childcare supports parents looking to return to work or pursue training and education, the mayor added.

“The cost of childcare for families is something that is a significant challenge,” Locke said. “As we all know, these are very difficult financial times for families, everybody is concerned about it, and I (am) grateful for this, for the province contributing to this and other childcare spaces we’re building.”