Operational Bulletin 330 - July 29, 2011

National Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Childminding Requirements – Provision for Physical Activity Space

Summary

The purpose of this Operational Bulletin is to inform settlement officers in the Atlantic Provinces, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta about the revision of Requirement 2-5.3 of the National Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Childminding Requirements, which concerns the different standards that apply to the provision of physical activity space for full-time and part-time care programs.

Issue

The previous Requirement 2-5.3 of the National LINC Childminding Requirements for provision of additional physical activity space did not differentiate between childminding programs that provided part-time care for children and those providing full-time care.

Background

The previous Requirement 2-5.3 stipulated that full-time childminding programs with an enrolment of one to eight children needed a minimum of forty-five square metres (45 m²) of additional useable indoor or outdoor gross motor activity space. More space may have been required when more than eight children were enrolled. There was no provision to exempt programs providing part-time care from this requirement.

Following a review of childminding standards, it was determined that this physical activity space will not be required for part-time childminding programs where children receive care for three (3) hours or less. There are other opportunities throughout the day for them to participate in physical activities. Other requirements related to physical activity in the National LINC Childminding Requirements are not changed and are still to be followed.

Physical Activity Space

Requirement 2-5.3 of the National LINC Childminding Requirements concerning physical activity space has been revised to differentiate between full- and part-time childminding programs. Requirement 2-5.3 now states that when one or more children receive care for more than three (3) hours a day, additional physical activity space is required. For a program with enrolment of up to eight children, the requirement is a minimum of forty-five square metres (45 m²) of additional useable indoor physical activity space. Additional space may be required when more than eight children are enrolled. Part-time programs with children in care for 3 hours or less are not required to provide physical activity space.

Childminding Monitoring Advisory and Support, the agency funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to create and monitor standards in service providing organizations’ non-licensed childminding facilities, is aware of this revision and will amend the National LINC Childminding Requirements accordingly. CIC settlement officers must inform service providers about this revision.