Data & methodology

BC Daycares is an independent directory built from public information. Our goal is to show where each detail came from, when it changed or was checked, and where the source has limits. A listing is not an endorsement, and licensing information can change between updates. Verify current status and important details with the facility and its health authority.

What this directory covers

The directory currently covers Metro Vancouver communities represented in the Province’s Child Care Map data. It is not a complete list of every child care option in British Columbia, or even every licensed facility in the region. The Province describes the source as a list of ministry-funded licensed child care locations and explains that some licensed facilities may not appear on the Child Care Map.

If you cannot find a facility here, check the Province’s child care information for families and the relevant health authority’s inspection site. We exclude locations outside our current geographic scope and rows the provincial source marks as duplicate or incomplete.

Official facility records

Our core source is the Province of British Columbia’s Child Care Map Data. It supplies the facility name, address, city, postal code, map coordinates, licence type, registry phone, age groups, languages, extended-hours flags, programs, Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative participation, and an inspection-source relationship. These fields are labelled BC licensed child care data on facility pages.

The Province says its dataset is updated daily. BC Daycares checks and imports it on a weekly schedule. We compare meaningful facility fields, preserve stable listing URLs, and update a row only when its information actually changes. For that reason, Record updated means the date the official values last changed in this directory; it is not the date of the most recent unchanged weekly check.

Health authority and inspection information

Child care facilities are licensed and inspected by their local health authority. We use the provincial record’s inspection relationship where it is available and a city-to-authority mapping as a fallback. Facility pages link to a verified health-authority landing page, not to an unverified facility-specific report.

Search the Province’s licensed facility inspection guide, Fraser Health, or Vancouver Coastal Health for the latest available inspection and complaint information. An inspection report is one input, not a rating or recommendation.

Google business information

Some pages add a phone number, website, or opening hours from Google. That information is labelled Google business informationand is never presented as official licensing data. We display it only when the business name and location produce a high-confidence match. A low-confidence match is kept off the public page rather than guessed.

Checked is the date we fetched the displayed Google details. When a confident Google phone exists, it is shown ahead of the registry phone; otherwise the registry phone is used and labelled as official. Google hours are hidden after one year or when the check date is missing or invalid. Phone and website details keep their visible check date so parents can judge their age and verify them directly.

Facility-provided information

Some listings include practical details submitted by a facility and manually reviewed by BC Daycares. These details are stored separately, labelled Facility-provided information with a last-updated date, and never overwrite government-sourced licensing facts.

Openings and waitlist information can change quickly. We show when it was last updated, ask facilities to tell us when it changes, and ask parents to check directly with the facility before making plans.

Missing and changing information

A missing field means the source did not provide a value we can safely display. We leave it out instead of filling it with an estimate. When a facility disappears from the provincial source, its listing is removed from public results without claiming that the facility closed or lost its licence; parents should check the health authority for current status.

Residential family child care addresses

Under BC’s child care rules, Family Child Care and In-Home Multi-Age Child Care may operate in the licensee’s personal residence. For facilities identified as home-based by the provincial licence type, BC Daycares does not publish the street address, complete postal code, or exact map coordinates. We do not infer a home address from Google or another source. Read the Province’s explanation of child care types.

Home-based listings show the municipality, the first three postal-code characters, and a stable approximate map area. Nearby distances use the same approximate point, and directions are not provided. Families should contact the provider for the exact address. If masking does not resolve a credible safety, privacy, legal, or source-error concern, we can temporarily remove the entire listing while reviewing it.

Corrections and removal requests

Every facility page has a Suggest a correction link. You can also use our contact page. Include the facility name, listing URL, what appears wrong, and a source if possible. Government-sourced facts remain authoritative, so some corrections must also be made with the Province or health authority. Privacy and safety requests are reviewed promptly and may result in temporary full-listing suppression while the facts are checked.

Attribution and licence

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. The Province of British Columbia does not endorse BC Daycares or guarantee our presentation of the data.