Recently I have found out what a nightmare it is to relocate a home daycare where I live. I am actually very frustrated with how this matter is handled and how difficult they make it for businesses like mine to continue operating when forced to move. If you have to relocate your daycare in the interior health region they make you start a whole new application rather than just transfer everything over and get new floor plans. You have to start from the very beginning and resubmit everything. The list of things you have to juggle while moving is insane, take a look at how to start a daycare in BC.
This is literally one of the dumbest and most inefficient ways to relocate a business I have ever heard. Would it not make more sense to simply transfer the license over to the new address and only change the things that need to be changed? When reapplying you have to get references, fill out suitability forms, draw up floor plans, test for radon gas, test your water for lead, cancel your business license and reapply for a new one, ensure your home is safe enough, get permission if you are renting, check with the municipality for zoning, the list goes on and on.
If you don’t have any savings or money coming in while you are relocating you are going to be in serious trouble. You have to pay for everything out of pocket because you do not qualify for relocation grants or startup grants to get going, this is simply unfair and seems as though interior health just enjoys making it hard for daycare providers to stay operational. I have one week left to get the entire application done, go through the inspection, and have the fire marshal come through the home to grant me my new license. If I do not have it completed and approved I’m not allowed to operate until it is. Then I have to reapply for the CCOF and Subsidy to be able to get paid, who has that kind of time and money to just throw away? I have held my daycare license for over 11 years already so having to complete it all again is just crazy, the easy way to do this would be to give current license holders a grace period and allow them to submit floor plans and inspections while remaining operational.
Interior Health needs to think about this process and make it easier for daycares to relocate when they are forced to move. It is also unfair not to allow older daycares access to grants that have only come out within the last few years. When I started my daycare I had to pay for everything out of pocket, and now new daycares can apply for thousands of dollars in grants. If it was a fair system they would track who has received the grants and allow older daycares to apply if they have to relocate or startup all over again. Whoever is making these regulations is really making it hard to want to run a daycare.
This might help you in the long run if you decide to relocate in the interior health area. And if you are located somewhere else take a look at your regulations before you plan your move because you might be looking at a long and expensive process.
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