Grants to Help You Start Your Own Home Daycare

Opening your own home daycare is a real, achievable path after certification — and one of the biggest hurdles, cost, has more support available than a lot of people realize.

BC's Start-Up Grants program is designed specifically to help people become licensed home childcare providers — whether you're currently operating unlicensed care, or you're brand new to the field. It provides an initial $500 payment once you're approved, with total funding of up to $4,500 depending on how many licensed spaces your home daycare creates.

There are a few important things to know if you're considering this route:

• Apply before you're licensed. You need to apply for the Start-Up Grant before becoming a licensed provider, not after. There's no application deadline, but funding is limited, so it's worth applying once you know this is the direction you want to go.
• Talk to your regional health authority first. Licensing requirements can vary depending on where you live, so it's a good idea to contact your regional health authority's licensing office before applying, so you understand exactly what will be expected of you.
• Know your space limits. Once licensed, you can care for up to 7 children under a standard Family child care licence, or up to 8 children under an In-Home Multi-Age licence.
• Licensing opens more doors. Beyond the grant itself, becoming licensed also makes you eligible for a wider range of ongoing funding programs, and the families you care for may qualify for a higher Affordable Child Care Benefit rate than they would with unlicensed care.

If cost has been the thing holding you back from turning your certification into your own home daycare, this program exists specifically to help close that gap. It's worth a conversation with your local licensing office to see what the process would look like for you.

You can find full details, eligibility, and the application process on the official BC Start-Up Grants page. And if the application process feels like a lot to navigate alone, your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) centre can actually help you apply — more on that below.