Langley Forest School faces layoffs after child-care licence expiry

Langley Forest School is laying off staff and assisting families after Fraser Health deemed its child-care facility licence expired, preventing the program from returning in September. Board president Carol LaJeunesse said the school had pursued every legal option and recourse without success and must lay off 10 staff. The program had been fully booked with 32 children for the 2026-27 school year.

The registered non-profit charity has provided outdoor child care since 2014 and is governed by a board of directors. LaJeunesse said demand had been strong, with families placing babies on the waiting list while still in hospital.

Fraser Health says it is not requiring the school to close. Senior public affairs consultant Zahra Alani said the automatic expiry does not prevent Langley Forest School from operating a lawful outdoor education program that does not amount to a community care facility. Under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, a facility licence expires automatically when the licensed premises has not operated as a community care facility for 12 consecutive months. Alani said the expiry was not linked to a documented safety incident or concern involving children, but to the licensing status and use of the premises attached to the licence.

LaJeunesse said Fraser Health’s child-care inspection branch told the school in 2025 to use its indoor space more but provided no defined criteria for duration or who must use it. While the school spent months considering changes, it received a recent letter saying its licence had expired. A Change.org petition launched Aug. 26 had more than 2,100 signatures by Aug. 31.

The school has administrative space in Fort Langley and a yurt built in Williams Park in 2015, as well as use of a South Langley park. Parents take children directly to the green space in use. LaJeunesse said requiring families to first go to Fort Langley and then travel to the parks would add substantial time and cost. A recreation-program model would limit operations to two hours a day, which she said is financially unworkable and makes staffing difficult; its newest employee has been there three years.

Alani said licensing requirements are not intended to block outdoor programming. Licensed child care can include outdoor activities, excursions, field trips and outdoor learning, but operators must still run a facility so children have access to an appropriate and safe place when needed.

Parent Kourtni Gunn said her children were wait-listed at birth; Charlie attended two preschool years and two years in the five-to-seven program, while June was about to begin a second preschool year. She said closure would force children who thrive outdoors into an indoor classroom. Kimberley Chalmers said children need access to education that meets their needs and that outdoor schools offer an accessible option for many families.

Ashley Lindbo said the loss is especially difficult for her autistic son Beckett, who was about to begin his fifth year after completing preschool there. She said he has limited speech but can say “forest school,” his favourite activity. Lindbo said she has never been concerned about safety because staff are trained and caring, and said Inclusion Langley works with the program to place neurodiverse children who struggle to transition to mainstream settings.

LaJeunesse said the board and administration have examined options but cannot determine what to change without definitive criteria. She said lawyers found no appeal process and other Fraser Health staff said they had no authority over the decision-making branch. She said the only other similar outdoor-education child-care operation in B.C. is in Surrey and uses a warehouse. The school could continue unlicensed, but LaJeunesse said that would undermine its aim of providing quality child care. She travelled to Victoria last week to seek meetings with politicians and senior bureaucrats.