Day Cares
Day Cares
The following is designed to familiarize prospective operators of Day Cares with the City’s Zoning Bylaw requirements. The City of Saskatoon does not require a business license for the operation of a Day Cares or Day Cares, Residential.
Definitions and Land Use:
- Day Care Centres means an establishment providing for the care, supervision, protection or support of individuals of any age on a regular, periodic or temporary basis and includes child care centres as defined by The Child Care Act, 2014, but does not include the provision of overnight supervision.
- Residential Day Care means an accessory use located in a one-unit dwelling, a unit of a two-unit dwelling, a mobile home, a semi-detached dwelling, or a townhouse, where the occupants of the dwelling provide for the care, supervision, protection, or support of individuals of any age who require care or support on a regular, periodic or temporary basis and includes family child care homes and group family child care homes as defined by The Child Care Act, 2014, but does not include the provision of overnight supervision.
Permitted Day Cares
Day Care Centres accessory to a place of worship, school, community centre or community centre conversion are permitted in most residential areas. Day Care Centres are also permitted in the M3, M4, B3, B4, B4A, B4MX, B5, B5B, B5C and B6 Zoning Districts and in the FUD District when accessory to a dwelling.
Residential Day Cares with no more than twelve individuals of any age, including individuals who are resident in the home, are permitted as an accessory use in a detached One-unit Dwelling, a unit of a Two-unit Dwelling, a mobile home, a Semi-detached Dwelling, or a Townhouse in all residential areas.
Discretionary Day Cares
Day care facilities not meeting the above requirements or having more than twelve individuals under supervision at any one time in a dwelling are subject to Discretionary Use approval by City Council.
Discretionary Use Applications are evaluated based on several factors to ensure they align with the City policies and regulations. The objective of our review is to ensure the proposal does not negatively impact the use of properties within the surrounding community. Some of the factors or criteria that day cares are evaluated on include:
- Demand and Land Availability - Prospective operators should demonstrate that there is demand for the proposed use in the general area, and a limited supply of land currently available in the general area capable of accommodating the proposed use.
- Impacts to adjacent properties and land uses - The proposal must not be detrimental to the health, safety, convenience, or general welfare of people or property in the surrounding area. Day cares should be appropriately scaled in capacity to align with the character or density of the surrounding neighbourhood.
- Parking and Traffic Management - Parking and loading needs will be assessed during the review of the discretionary use application and a minimum number of parking spaces may be required based on the proposed capacities, the location of the site, the site design, and your plan to mitigate parking impacts through a parking plan. Our focus is on ensuring that the proposal provides adequate parking spaces for both employees and clients on-site or immediately adjacent to the subject property, particularly during peak hours of drop-off and pick-up.
Day Care Development Standards
Both Day Care Centres and Residential Day Cares are subject to various zoning requirements as outlined within the Zoning Bylaw, in addition to other regulations such as:
Day Care Centres:
- Day care centres may be approved as an accessory use or as a principal use.
- Day care centres are not permitted as a principal use in a unit of a Two-unit Dwelling, Semi-detached Dwelling, a Townhouse, or a unit of a Multi-unit Dwelling.
- Exterior alterations in any residential district must be consistent with the residential character of the building or property.
- All parking spaces may be located in a required front yard and may be tandem.
- Day care centres in all districts except for M4, B6, and MX2 must include not less than 7 square metres of outdoor play space for each child under the age of 13 present in the facility at any one time and must meet the following requirements:
- not less than 3.5 square metres per child must be located on-site and fenced;
- the remaining outdoor play space may be located at a nearby location provided that written approval by the Ministry of Education has been given.
Residential Day Cares:
- The number of persons under care or supervision in a day care, residential shall not exceed 12, including the individuals to whom care is being provided who are resident in the dwelling.
- A residential day care is permitted as an accessory use in a detached One-unit Dwelling, a unit of a Two-unit Dwelling, a mobile home, a Semi-detached Dwelling, or a Townhouse.
- Residential day care shall provide 3.25 square metres of on-site and fenced outdoor play space for each child under the age of 13 years present in the facility at any one time.
Building Code Requirements
In order to verify compliance with safety standards, a building permit is required prior to the operation of any day care facility in the city. A building permit is also required if a building which either contains a day care facility or in which a day care facility is proposed to be established, is to be altered, expanded or upgraded. For information on Building Code requirements and building permits for Day Cares contact Building Standards.
Provincial Licensing
A business license from the City of Saskatoon is not required for a Day Care. However, prospective operators may need to obtain a license to operate a child care facility from the Provincial Ministry of Education, Early Learning and Child Care Program. In order to obtain provincial licensing, prospective operators will require a building permit from the Community Services Department, City of Saskatoon.
For information regarding the establishment of child care facility, prospective operators should contact the Ministry of Education Early Years Branch.