Arcadian Early Learning is a licensed daycare program that has been serving the Cowichan Valley since 1974. We are a non-profit society that has charitable status and we work with over 60 children and their families. We seek to provide quality care helping children develop and grow to their full potential in a positive, child-led, inclusive, nature based environment.

Our philosophy is family centred and welcoming; in addition, we spend a significant portion of our program time outdoors. We emphasize a nature based approach which includes a Reggio Emilia inspired environment.

The children in our program are aged from infancy through to five years and reflect the diversity and demographics seen in our community.  A significant number of the children in our care come from families that are single parent, have parents attending school full time, are on social assistance, or a combination of these. These factors can present challenges for these children and families we work to support.

We support families in a variety of ways outside of the normal bounds of our program and are always looking for ways to do more. Our funds however are limited because most of our funding comes from parent fees and the affordable childcare benefit. In order to keep fees low we fundraise for part of our budget every year. Additionally we supply morning and afternoon snacks following The Canada Food Guide to ensure nutrious foods are available to all children in our program. This service is included in our monthly childcare fee cost and is partially funded by Nourish Cowichan. 

Due to the efforts to maintain low fees and be accessible to all families, our financial ability to operate is limited. With support from external sources, we wish to be able to maintain our building, which is close to heritage status, provide quality materials to the children and create future opportunities for all children in our programs.