On May 10, 2024, the governments of Nova Scotia and Canada announced a multimillion-dollar extension of the Child Study Center at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU). The project will cost $10 million in total. The government is contributing half ($2M provincial and $3M federal). The final $5 million will be raised by the institution.
At the announcement, officials from the government, the children from the MSVU Child Study Center, teachers, staff, and members of the board of directors assembled on site.
The government’s representatives, Hon. Lena Metlege Diab, MP for Halifax West; Hon. Becky Druhan, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development; and Hon. Brian Wong, Minister of Advanced Education, delivered the good news. Melanie Waye represented the centre parents, and the event’s emcee was Dr. Christine McLean, chair and associate professor in the MSVU department of child and youth study.
Upon completion in 2026, the 15,000 square foot facility will be the largest and most renowned daycare facility serving infants and young children in the area.
The new Child Study Center will be located at 175 Seton Road, which is the current Meadows building on campus.
The enlarged center will house three times as many child care spaces as it already does, including places for infants under the age of 18 months (the current center does not offer infant spaces).
The planned layout of the brand-new Child Study Center being constructed at MSVU These extra rooms will aid in addressing the severe lack of high-quality, easily accessible childcare locations. But that is not where the narrative ends.
MSVU President Dr. Joël Dickinson thanked the donors and highlighted the new center’s impact on the sector as a whole.
New, top-notch classrooms, according to Dr. Dickinson, will help possibilities for professional growth for those already employed in the field and serve as important learning environments for an increasing number of students who have decided to specialize in early childhood education.
Additionally, in the expanded centre, academic staff members will collaborate with community partners to conduct cutting-edge research that will be shared throughout the Atlantic region’s early childhood sector and beyond. Public policy will benefit from this research, which will also assist guarantee that all children have access to the greatest evidence-based early life experiences.
Read more about this new centre at https://www.msvu.ca/msvu-child-study-centre-growing-with-5m-government-investment/
Reference and photos credit to: https://www.msvu.ca/
