Atira Announces Closure of Three Early Care & Learning Centres
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2026
Vancouver, BC
Atira Announces Closure of Three Early Care & Learning Centres
Atira Women’s Resource Society has provided formal notice that we will no longer be able to operate three Early Care & Learning Centres: Willow and River Run in Richmond, and Seksik in Vancouver.
Notice has been provided to the City of Richmond, where Willow and River Run are purpose-built child care centres developed to support families in the community, and to Affordable Housing Society, our partner in Seksik Early Care & Learning Centre, a space thoughtfully renovated to meet the needs of the community it serves.
This is not a decision we have taken lightly. These centres reflect a shared commitment to accessible, high-quality childcare, and we know how critical they are to families. We want to acknowledge both partners for their leadership and ongoing commitment to care in their communities, and we are confident that commitment will continue.
This decision reflects a broader, structural challenge within the child care system.
Atira believes deeply in the value of child care and in the skilled, essential work of early childhood educators. This is not a question of whether workers deserve fair wages, benefits, and protections—they do. We respect the collective bargaining process and the rights of unionized staff. A strong, fairly compensated workforce is essential to delivering quality care.
The challenge is that the current provincial funding model does not reflect the true cost of delivering high-quality, non-profit child care within a unionized environment.
Funding is based on standardized assumptions about wages and benefits that do not align with the actual costs required to meet collective agreements, including compensation, benefits, paid leave, and the staffing levels required to meet licensing and quality standards. While the Province has recognized some of these pressures through wage enhancements and operating funding, there remains a significant gap between what is funded and the actual cost of delivering care.
Atira has carried substantial operating deficits over an extended period in order to maintain services for families and meet our commitments to staff. That is not sustainable. We also pursued opportunities to participate in the $10-a-day child care program, but the recent pause on new enrolment underscores the broader challenge: without a funding model that reflects the true cost of care, affordability and sustainability cannot be achieved at the same time.
We have been in ongoing discussions with both government and union partners since certification in 2023, and we have actively advocated for adjustments to the funding model to address these gaps. Unfortunately, those efforts have not resulted in the changes needed to ensure long-term viability.
We also made a clear commitment not to pass these costs on to families through increased parent fees, as doing so would undermine the very purpose of accessible child care.
This is the difficult reality many non-profit operators are facing. Across the sector, organizations have been raising concerns about the misalignment between public funding and the true cost of delivering quality care. When funding does not keep pace, providers are left with limited options: carry unsustainable deficits, increase fees, or step away from service delivery.
Atira remains committed to working with the Province and sector partners to advocate for a sustainable, fully funded model of child care—one that reflects the real cost of delivering quality care, supports a stable and well-compensated workforce, and ensures access for families.
We are proud of the care that has been provided at Willow, River Run, and Seksik, and deeply grateful to the staff who have created safe, nurturing environments for children and families every day.
Our focus now is on supporting a thoughtful transition and continuing to advocate for the system changes needed to ensure this work can continue, sustainably, across communities.
Media Contact:
Tannaz Alesafar
604 830-1923
Communications Director
Atira Women’s Resource Society