Fort Erie daycare adding classrooms to keep up with town’s growth

A Fort Erie child-care centre says it will add classrooms and elementary grades to meet rising demand from local families.

Rivergate Academy held its grand opening on Saturday, three months after changing its name from Fort Erie International Academy Childcare and weeks after starting its first full-day kindergarten program.

“The community is growing, so the need for child care is just growing with that as well,” said Rivergate Academy child-care manager Breanne Stewart.

Fort Erie has nearly 37,000 residents and Niagara Region projects the population could reach about 52,500 by 2050.

Rivergate opened in November 2022 and now cares for 88 children, with a licensed capacity of 151, the academy says. Stewart said six classrooms are open and the building has space for another five, along with a gym, a library and a dance room that opened this year.

“We have one of the largest facilities in Fort Erie,” said Stewart.

Stewart said Rivergate will start adding Grades 1 to 3 next year and wants to teach up to Grade 5 by 2028 or 2029, if Fort Erie families want it.

“Is it something that would really benefit the community? That’s kind of what we’re looking at right now,” said Stewart.

The centre takes children as young as 12 months. Parents pay $22 a day through the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system, Rivergate says.

Mayor Wayne Redekop spoke at the opening about what child care does for working parents.

“Not only does good quality child care provide a sound foundation for our children, but it allows the parents to get involved in the workforce,” said Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop.

Stewart said the centre chose the Rivergate name because parents misunderstood the old one.

“Over the years I just found when I was giving tours to new families that they always had a confusion that they thought we were like an international child care and that we weren’t community based,” said Stewart.

Paul Liu, who founded Fort Erie International Academy and owns Rivergate, told families at the opening to send him their suggestions and said the centre will add the programs parents ask for.

Rivergate will assess its first kindergarten year before committing to Grades 1 to 3, Stewart said.

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