Vancouver – Trouble finding a location for new daycare

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting to this forum. For the past few years I have been working at a group daycare in the Vancouver area and would now like to start my own daycare, preferably in the City of Vancouver. I’ve been reading lots of information online (West Coast Child Care, City of Vancouver website) about how to establish a childcare centre (applying for licenses, permits etc.) which all seems very straightforward.

But my difficulty is with the very first step – finding a suitable space for a daycare! I’ve talked with real estate agents and private owners about setting up a daycare in their commercial space, but invariably the answer is ‘no way’. It seems like it’s too much trouble for them to even consider the possibility of having someone rent their space for the purposes of opening a daycare.

So my question to the forum is – how did you find your daycare location? I’m particularly interested if you are operating in the Vancouver area. Did you go through a real estate agent? Craigslist?

My other question is about the process. Obviously I don’t want to rent a space before I know if licensing will find it acceptable for use as a daycare. But the procedures seem to assume that I’m already renting or have purchased a location. So I’m unsure as to how to proceed. Do I have to rent a space before licensing can approve it? Or can they check out a space before I rent it? It’s tough because I’m sure it takes a while for a space to be approved for use as a daycare, and during that time it could easily be rented to someone else.

Any advice on this issue would be appreciated!

Thank you!
Purple

Hi Purple,
I am just starting out and in the same boat - did you find a solution??? WOuld love to hear what happened for you.