Council for the County of Huron has approved issuing another $300,000 toward the construction of a child care centre in Blyth.
Over a year ago, the County approved a Start-Up Agreement with the Township of North Huron to develop 26 childcare spaces, and provided $350,000 to support early construction costs that were severely under estimated at $705,000.
The contract to build the centre on the site of the Blyth Campground was recently awarded to Bronnenco Construction. The total construction costs for the project are now anticipated to be over $2.1 million, and the County has issued $950,000 towards the centre.
Manager of Children's Services Cheryl Patience told council that the County's portion comes entirely from a special provincial fund, and they will ultimately benefit, on the operational side, from a new funding model.
"In 2025, the Ministry moved to a cost-based funding allocation," she said. "They're looking to get away from that grant funding... this funding in particular is with the intent of creating additional spaces and growing... the new form of funding is based on number of spaces, so we do anticipate our funding envelope increasing based on the number of operational licenced spaces in the County."
The number of child care spaces at the centre is expected to increase to around 44.
Huron County has a goal of creating an additional 175 spaces by the end of this year. A new childcare centre recently opened in Goderich, which will eventually offer 88 spaces.
