Family Care

Child Care

Child care availability is specific to each campus. Please select a page below for information on your campus location.

• Child care in Vancouver
• Child care in Kelowna

Schools & Colleges

New faculty members who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents can apply for either a study permit or a visitor record for each their children at the border. The study permits and visitor records will be attached to the children’s passports. The faculty member will need to show a local home address before children can be enrolled in school.

Contact the school board in your area of residence prior to your arrival at UBC to find out what you need to do to enroll your children in elementary or secondary school.

Older children who are entering post-secondary education will also need to complete a Study Permit before they arrive in Canada. Pre-school children do not need a study permit and can obtain a ‘visitor record’ or a stamp in their passport on entry to Canada, with the dates that they can legally reside in Canada clearly marked. These dates usually match the dates set out in the faculty member’s work permit.

• Enrolling your children in Vancouver schools
• Enrolling your children in Kelowna schools

Elder Care

UBC’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) for staff and faculty is a confidential counseling service that can help you or your family members with any personal problem, big or small, that affects your family life, your work life or your general well-being. EFAP is self-referred, so no one need know that you are seeking help.

Our provider’s Member Services website also offers on-line resources that address some of these issues and more. For example, you can access a Child and Eldercare Canadian provider database, take interactive eLearning courses for personal health and well-being and / or workplace effectiveness, access an on-line Wellness Library and read articles and newsletters on a variety of health and wellness topics.

Face-to-Face / Telephone Counseling: To make an appointment or to access services, please call Human Solutions at 1.800.663.1142 (English) or 1.866.398.9505 (French) or 1.888.384.1152 (TTY hearing assistance). If you are calling internationally, call collect at 604.689.1717. You may also book an appointment using their secure on-line form.

The provincial government’s BC Seniors’ Guide includes information for seniors on housing, transportation, finance, personal security, and more.

Partner Employment/Spousal Work Permit

UBC recognizes that relocation is stressful for all members of the family, not least for the spouse or life partner accompanying our new hire to Vancouver or the Okanagan. The Work-Life and Relocation Services Centre is managed by Human Resources professionals who can speak with you about local employment opportunities and resources. The staff know many contacts at UBC and have local knowledge of employers and may be able to direct people to networking contacts. This element of service is informal and, while we cannot guarantee that employment will be found, it is reassuring to know that partners will be considered in a pro-active and friendly way.

For new faculty relocating to Vancouver, contact Melanie Groom on 604-822-1229 or melanie.groom@ubc.ca. If you are relocating to Kelowna, contact Susan Fukushima at 250-807-8612 or susan.fukushima@ubc.ca.

If you are accompanied by your spouse (including common-law partners), and provided your work permit is valid for at least six months, s/he will be eligible to apply for a spousal work permit and then to search for and take up employment in Canada. When applying for a spousal work permit it will be necessary to provide proof of your relationship (i.e. a marriage certificate or a statutory declaration of common law relationship) and a copy of your work permit (unless the applications for the temporary work permits are made concurrently). If your spouse has not yet received a job offer, s/he can request an open work permit which will allow him/her to accept any job depending on whether or not a medical exam was taken. Further information is available on the CIC website.