App: DayCare Finder
Hosted on GitHub:
Mission Statement:
Over the last three decades, the need for child care has grown steadily, with the rise in employment rates among women and the corresponding increase in dual income earner families and single-parent led families. In addition, the demand for quality child care has also increased, due to the potential benefits on peer socialization, school readiness, and numeracy and language skills. In Canada, options for child care vary from daycare centers, preschool programs and before and after school services. Finding the most appropriate child care arrangements can, at times be challenging. Parents must often balance the need between availability, convenience/distance, overall quality and cost of child care.
In the City of Toronto, thousands of parents sit idle on a lengthy waiting list for after-school daycare spots. They scramble to find spaces for their children in an increasingly overburdened system; in many cases parents are even forced to look elsewhere as after-school systems are full or unavailable. Many day care centres are hard to find online and parents/guardians may not have the time (or ability) to query through multiple results on the web.
A step towards solving this issue is to provide parents and caregivers with information that allows them to find and connect with local childcare services in close proximity. Utilizing the DayCare Finder App, our team’s goal is to provide the public with a means to identify the closest childcare centre to reduce the burden for those raising children. This application benefits both the city and parents; parents will be able to find services closer to home and/or work while the city continues to work towards growing its child day care service for all Torontonians in need.
Video Presentation
Documentation
Team Members
Abbas Gardezi: I am a fourth year student of B.Sc Hons. Earth & Environmental Science at McMaster University, with a GIS minor. I am interested in using GIS applications for analyzing land use changes and urban planning; with specific interest in sustainability. I am interested in hiking, playing soccer, meeting friends and traveling.
Rajveer Ubhi: I am a third-year undergraduate student at McMaster University currently in Honours Earth and Environmental Sciences pursuing a minor in GIS. I enjoy developing my GIS skills and look forward to implementing them in multiple disciplines like petroleum geology and hydrogeology. In my spare time I enjoy playing soccer and watching basketball.
Manpreet Singh Chahal: I am currently completing my final year at McMaster University where I am studying Biology and Environmental Science with a minor in GIS. I enjoy integrating the use of GIS in ecological applications as well as data visualization using remote sensing techniques. During my free time, I enjoy playing sports such as basketball and soccer and watching hockey.
Serad Abdi: I am a 4th year undergraduate student in B.Sc Hons Environmental Science and Geography seeking to minor in GIS. I’m very interested in hydrology and renewable energy resources as well as exploring how various technologies like GIS can help improve our carbon footprints. Outside of my academic interests i enjoy reading, playing soccer, and watching nature documentaries.