Social Impact
Purcell Preschool + Daycare operates as a social enterprise. As guided by the BC Centre for Social Enterprise’s criteria and as engaged by our management and staff, we have two goals:
- to achieve social, cultural, communication economic, and/or environmental outcomes; and
- to generate revenue by offering a service in support of these outcomes.
Purcell Preschool + Daycare was founded to apply an entrepreneurial approach to British Columbia’s childcare crisis in the form of a pioneering engagement and operating model designed to leverage synergies, maximize efficiencies, and create positive community/sector change.
How are we doing that? In three primary ways:
- by generating extra revenue and increasing margin by including international children in our preschool cohorts:
- by reinvesting 100% of all would-be profits into our operating model in support of higher staff wages, lower fees for Canadian parents, and the best-available learning resources and amenities for the children in our care; and
- by creating cross-cultural, truly global learning and exchange opportunities for all children attending Purcell Preschool + Daycare.
Our approach is simple: at Purcell, we seek to create opportunities from issues and to turn liabilities into assets via synergy-driven approaches, initiatives, and long-term strategies.
We are working to pioneer a new model for funding and delivering early learning programs in British Columbia. Our goal is FREE childcare as soon as possible and by 2026 at the latest.
The childcare “issue” is complex but the liability it creates is simple: it will cost taxpayers billions to address!
Don’t misunderstand: at Purcell, we see it as a worthwhile investment. In fact, we see it as the single-most important investment any society can make! By investing in children during the formative Pre-K years, we prioritize the well-being, growth, and development of the future or our society. Our country and ultimately our planet will reap the dividends of this vital and timely investment. Our issue is not with how much it will cost; it is with how we are planning to pay for it.
Right now, the plan is for taxpayers to exclusively foot the bill. It doesn’t have to be that way. The K-12 education system is a case in point. In the province of British Columbia, school districts and independent schools generate over $200 million in additional revenue each year from international student fees. In so doing, they enhance the education opportunity afforded to BC children by maximizing an available efficiency (empty seats in classrooms) and leveraging an accessible value proposition (the benefit of learning English is a native-speaking country to international children).
We’re going to do the same thing Purcell Preschool + Daycare. Each of our preschool cohorts has four empty spaces that cannot be populated with local children due to licensing restrictions and domestic fee schedules. As is the case with K-12 international student programs, international children will have access to these spaces at a premium fee which will enable Purcell, as a social enterprise, to subsidize the rates paid by local parents. It’s a win-win formula that will enable international children to learn English and experience Canadian culture at a favourable period in their neurolinguistic development.
The government has articulated a Roadmap for $10aDAY Child Care in BC by 2026. Purcell Preschool + Daycare is working to supplement that plan to make up the difference. Our goal is FREE childcare as soon as possible and by 2026 at the latest.
