Weekend and drop-in daycare in Port Coquitlam, and how booking works

Most child care is sold as a weekday package: five mornings, a start date, a monthly rhythm. That works for a lot of families and not at all for the rest.

Shift work does not stop on Friday. Neither do weekend trades, hospital rotations, restaurant work, exam weekends, or the Saturday when both parents have to be somewhere at once. This is how weekend and drop-in care work at this centre, and what to have ready before you ask.

Two different words

These get used interchangeably and they mean different things, so it is worth separating them once.

Weekend care describes when. Care on a Saturday or Sunday.

Drop-in care describes the arrangement. Occasional care that does not require ongoing enrolment.

They overlap but they are not the same. A family can use weekend care on a regular, repeating schedule, which is not drop-in at all. And a drop-in booking can just as easily land on a Wednesday.

Knowing which one you are asking about makes the conversation faster, because the requirements attached to each are different.

Who weekend care is open to

Three groups.

Families already enrolled during the week who need some weekend cover as well.

Families who only need weekends, with no weekday enrolment at all.

Drop-in children, booked occasionally rather than on a schedule.

The second one is the one families do not expect. There is no requirement to be a weekday family first. If weekends are the only thing you need, that is a complete arrangement rather than an add-on to something else.

What drop-in care requires before the first day

Drop-in care does not require ongoing enrolment. It does require paperwork, and this is the part that catches families who are thinking of it as babysitting.

Before care begins we need child information, emergency contact information, medical information, and the required consents.

That is not a centre being difficult. A licensed facility in British Columbia has to hold a current record for every child in its care, whether that child comes every day for three years or once for six hours. The record includes name and date of birth, emergency contacts, any allergy or medical condition, and written consent to call a medical practitioner or an ambulance if you cannot be reached, and to release your child to anybody other than you.

Think about what that consent does on the one day it is needed. A centre without it cannot authorise treatment for your child and cannot let your named friend collect them. That is why it comes before the first day rather than during it.

The practical upshot: build in time for the paperwork. A booking request made seven days out with the forms still to come is really a booking request made later than that.

Booking, and the one week of notice

Contact the centre by phone or email with the dates and hours you need, and your child's age.

Drop-in care needs to be requested at least one week ahead, so that space and staffing can be confirmed.

All bookings are subject to availability and must be confirmed by the centre. That last phrase is doing real work: a request is not a booking until you hear back from us. Please do not plan a shift around an unanswered email.

The reason behind the notice is staffing. A licensed centre has to meet staff-to-child ratios at all times, and ratios depend on how many children of which ages are present. Adding a child to a weekend changes the arithmetic, and the answer might be that an additional educator needs to be scheduled. A week is what makes that possible. Same-day requests are not something a licensed facility can absorb the way a family member could.

Same rooms, qualified educators

Weekend care runs in the same environment used during the week and is supervised by qualified educators. Regular team members are included whenever they are available.

Staffing may vary with weekend enrolment, so your child may see a different mix of familiar faces than they would on a Tuesday. Worth mentioning to them in advance if your child is the kind who notices, which most are.

What does not vary is the licence. A licensed facility operates under the same Child Care Licensing Regulation whenever its doors are open. The staff qualification requirements, the ratio requirements, the record keeping, the health and safety obligations: all the same on a Saturday. The day of the week is not a variable in any of it.

That is worth knowing when you compare a weekend arrangement at a licensed centre against an informal one. There is a fuller comparison of what a licence actually buys you in home-based versus centre-based daycare in BC, and a walkthrough of how to verify any facility's licence in how to check a daycare's licence.

The funding point

Government childcare funding does not apply to drop-in care.

This is the single fact families are most often surprised by, and it is better learned now than after a booking.

British Columbia's funding programs are built around enrolment: a child enrolled at a participating facility, on an arrangement, for a period of time. Occasional care that deliberately sits outside enrolment sits outside that structure too.

So when you are working out whether a drop-in booking makes sense, work it out without assuming a subsidy will apply to it. If you are weighing occasional care against a regular part-time arrangement, that difference belongs in the comparison, because a regular arrangement may be eligible for support that an occasional one is not.

For what the programs are and who qualifies, the Province's own pages are the place to check, and our guide to child care costs in BC walks through how the three programs stack up. Contact us for current rates and a personalised estimate for your own situation, including any fee reductions you may be eligible for.

Availability, honestly

Availability changes through the year and depends on your child's age, the start date you want, and the schedule you need. Some age groups, particularly children under three, may have a waiting list.

We are not going to publish a number of open spaces here, because it would be wrong within a fortnight and a family would plan around it. Contact us and we will tell you what the actual position is for your child's age and the days you want.

One thing that genuinely helps: ask early even when your start date is months away. Weekend and drop-in space moves differently from weekday space, because it depends on which educators are scheduled as much as on how many children are booked. A family who asked in advance is a family we can contact when something opens up, and that is a better position to be in than checking back every few weeks.

What to have ready when you call

It makes the conversation about three minutes instead of three emails.

Your child's age, and their date of birth.

The exact dates and hours you need, including whether it is one occasion or a repeating pattern.

Any allergies, medical conditions, or medication.

Who else may collect your child.

Whether you have used group care before, and how your child usually handles a new place.

That last one is not administrative. A child who has never been in a group setting is having a first day, and a first day deserves preparation whether it is a Tuesday in September or a one-off Saturday. What that looks like is described in what happens on your child's first day.

Making a one-off day go well

A drop-in day is a first day compressed. A few things help.

Come and see the place first if you possibly can, even briefly. A child who has walked through the rooms once already arrives on the day with a memory rather than a surprise.

Pack the same as for a full day: food, spare clothes, water bottle, hat, comfort item, everything labelled. The centre does not provide meals, so a drop-in booking still needs a packed lunch and snacks that meet the nut-free policy.

Say goodbye properly and briefly. The advice for a one-off day is exactly the advice for a first day, and it is covered in why your child cries at drop-off.

Tell us what your child is like. Six hours is not long enough for educators to work out on their own that your child needs a warning before transitions, or that they will not ask for the toilet unless prompted. Two sentences at the door saves the whole afternoon.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be enrolled during the week to use weekend care?

No. Weekend care at this centre is open to weekday families, to families who only need weekends, and to drop-in children. Ongoing weekday enrolment is not a condition of using it.

How far ahead do I need to book drop-in care?

At least one week ahead. That is the notice needed to confirm both space and staffing, and every booking has to be confirmed by the centre rather than assumed once the request is sent.

What do I need to provide before my child can attend as a drop-in?

Child information, emergency contacts, medical information, and the required consents. Drop-in care does not need ongoing enrolment, but it does need this paperwork completed before care begins, because a licensed centre cannot hold a child without it.

Does government child care funding apply to drop-in care?

No. Government childcare funding does not apply to drop-in care. This surprises families more than anything else about the arrangement, so it is worth knowing before you plan around it.

Is weekend care in the same rooms as weekday care?

Yes. Weekend care runs in the same environment used during the week, supervised by qualified educators, and regular team members are included whenever they are available. Staffing may vary depending on weekend enrolment.

How do I request a weekend or drop-in booking?

Contact the centre by phone or email with the dates and hours you need and your child's age. Bookings are subject to availability and are confirmed by the centre, so treat a request as a request until you hear back.

Can I book a single Saturday rather than every weekend?

Yes, that is what drop-in care is for. Ongoing enrolment is not required, so a single day is a normal request as long as it is made with enough notice and space and staffing allow.

What is the difference between weekend care and drop-in care?

Weekend care describes when the care happens. Drop-in care describes the arrangement, meaning occasional care without ongoing enrolment. A family can use weekend care on a regular schedule, and a drop-in booking can fall on a weekday or a weekend.

Do the same licensing rules apply on a weekend?

Yes. A licensed facility operates under the same Child Care Licensing Regulation whenever it is open, including staff qualification and staff-to-child ratio requirements. The day of the week does not change what the licence requires.

Getting in touch

We are at 1103 Confederation Drive in the Citadel neighbourhood of Port Coquitlam, which puts us within reach of families across Coquitlam and Port Moody as well. Tell us the days and hours you are trying to cover and your child's age, and we will tell you what is possible. Contact us to start, or come and see the rooms first.