24-hour child care facility gets green light from council
By Lethbridge Herald on July 17, 2025.
Herald photo by AL BEEBER
Construction workers are seen on top of a building being constructed just off University Drive that will house a daycare and a 24-hour child care/respite centre. City council on Tuesday unanimously approved a bylaw amendment that will allow for two new uses of the property including the addition of a community space.Al Beeber
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
Lethbridge city council on Tuesday gave its unanimous support to the establishment of a 24-hour child care and respite facility in West Lethbridge.
After a public hearing, council voted to support Bylaw 6491 – Land Use Bylaw Amendment re: 2401 Westside Dr. W. which will allow applicant Carolyn Agyapong of Agyapa Care Ltd. To establish a first-of-its kind facility in Lethbridge which will accommodate people on shift work and others by providing overnight care.
The site of the new facility will be just west of University Drive at the north end of the city.
The approved bylaw amendment also allows for the establishment of a meeting hall space so Agyapong can rent it out to help with financial sustainability while fostering community engagement.
In a submission to council Agyapong stated the project will address “the urgent need for flexible 24-hour child care and respite support in Lethbridge.”
The facility will provide specialized support for children with disabilities and create what Agyapong calls an “inclusive, high-quality environment that serves all families.”
The application also says the facility will provide much-needed services for families who have children with disability and will enhance early childhood development through integrated, quality programming.
The application also states the facility will create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
At the hearing, Agyapong says she presently operates a group home at her residence in Garry Station offering the 24-hour service but the new facility will be unique in southern Alberta by offering that service in conjunction with a full-fledged daycare centre.
She told council the site will have 24-hour camera monitoring, a double vestibule door with buzzer system for entering, keycard access and secure fencing to create a safe play space for children.
The care centre will only accept children up to 12 years of age, council heard.
And except for emergency admittance of youth, the facility will be closed to public access from 10 pm. until 5 a.m. to ensure children can get uninterrupted sleep, Agyapong said.
She also told the SPC the closest place for such child care for residents of southern Alberta in communities ranging from the Crowsnest Pass to Medicine Hat is in Calgary.
The facility will fill up to 210 of the needed 600 child care spaces, Agyapong told the hearing.
In a letter to the City’s planning and design department, Agyapong wrote that her operation is “dedicated to providing inclusive, accessible, and high-quality care for children of all abilities, including those requiring specialized supports funded through the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) program and the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) program.”
Council heard from senior community planner Tyson Boylan that a daycare operation had been approved under the existing Direct Control bylaw as an existing use.
The rezoning is in line with the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan which is to to “provide an appropriate mix of agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, public and recreational land uses; developed in an orderly, efficient, compatible, safe and economical manner” and “contribute to a healthy environment, a healthy economy and a high quality of life.”
It also fits the plan by locating in its goal of locating school and health facilities along with “transportation, transit and other amenities appropriately to meet increased demand from a growing population.”
The facility is also in line with the Municipal Development Plan and its mandate of promoting “a sustainable development pattern which makes efficient use of land, minimizes the need for motorised travel and facilitates social cohesion, by encouraging the design of live, work, shop and play land uses in proximity to one another.”
It also complies with the 2402 West Side Drive outline plan brief and approved comprehensive plan.
22-21
while this may well respond to a long overdue, the city’s handling of this is pathetic as it is typical of our administration and council.
gosh, i bet next municipal elections we will finally get some earnest, honest, competent folk who truly wish to serve the regular folk. just like what happens when we have prov’l and fed’l elections, right?
Yes, maybe a council with bureaucrats who are truly transparent!
A friend is once again fighting the city to get their FOIP request and the city is once again, as they have in the last few years trying to block their request!
To our city employees, both elected and taxpayer paid:
transparency
a situation in which business and financial activities are done in an open way without secrets, so that people can trust that they are fair and honest.
What a bs announcement.
The city likely gave this company the green last year or they wouldn’t have started construction early this year.