SCOTT DAVIDSON

Students, faculty and university administrators hope see the long-awaited childcare facility expansion in McEown Park open in 2015.

On March 5, the University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors approved plans for a campus childcare centre in McEown Park that will provide 90 spaces.

With the board’s initial approval granted, a steering committee can move forward with the detailed design work for the project. The plan will be back before the board in the fall for final approval.

Associate Vice-President of Student Affairs David Hannah hopes construction will begin before the ground freezes in fall 2014.

Barring setbacks, the expansion will be complete sometime in 2015.

“It’s fair to say that it’s a priority for the university,” Hannah said. “The very fact that the board approved this capital project at a time of such financial restraint is an indication” of this.

A January 2011 survey revealed demand for up to 800 additional childcare spots at the U of S.

The McEown Park childcare centre in Souris Hall will add 90 spaces to the 110 currently provided at the Education Building and RDJ Williams Building. Three quarters of the new spaces will be reserved for students’ children.

Providing more infant spaces is a university priority, and this expansion will double the number of infant spots to a total of 12. Infant care is the most expensive form of child care and is subject to the most regulation.

The project will be funded in equal parts by the university, the student body, the provincial government and fundraising. The students’ share will be provided by a $5-per-term fee that Hannah brought to University Students’ Council. The provincial government has provided $1.4 million in funding to the university to expedite the project in addition to a per-space childcare grant.

Hannah noted that the Saskatchewan government’s contributions have “been the key to moving this whole project forward.”

U of S Students’ Union Vice-President of Student Affairs Alex Werenka believes that providing child care should be a priority for the USSU because childcare spots on campus are in high demand and the waits are long.

Werenka cited recent estimates that put the length of the waiting list between 300 and 800 people. A survey of the university community showed that over 800 respondents thought they would need child care within a year.

Werenka says it is not uncommon for students to have their names on childcare waiting lists across the city. Although the university tries to encourage and facilitate the use of these centres, many students cannot afford the high cost of childcare fees and are forced to find alternatives — help from friends, neighbors or relatives. Some international students have even brought their parents to Saskatoon for this purpose.

The childcare expansion will also reach out to aboriginal students, who have a proportionally greater need for child care than other groups on campus, Hannah said.

Last year the university pitched the idea of converting the century-old seed barn on College Drive into a refurbished childcare centre. The plan was eventually shelved when estimates for the project came in too high.

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Photo: Shan Lu