Applying for a Community Care Facility Licence

The City of Surrey conducts inspections of Community Care Facilities Applications for the Fraser Health Authority as part of the Community Care Facilities Licensing Process. 

Before you contact the City of Surrey for a Community Care Facility Inspection, an application must be made with Fraser Heath for Child Care (Daycare) and additional types of Community Care Facilities.  

Pre-application site inspections are not conducted for proposed locations of Community Care Facilities. 

Community Care Facility Application Processing

  1. Submit your Community Care Facility Application to Fraser Health. Once the application is reviewed by Fraser Health, you will receive a PDF copy of your application and supporting documents from the Licensing Officer. 
     
  2. The PDF copy of the reviewed application from the Licensing Officer must be emailed to Building Inspections at buildinginspectionrequests@surrey.ca.
    • The email subject line must include the civic address, daycare name and the word "application". 
       
  3. After application review, staff will contact the applicant by email to arrange payment to begin the inspection process. You will be contacted within 10 business days of the City receiving your application. 
    • Do not submit payment until you have been contacted by Building Inspections staff.
       
  4. Once you receive an email from Building Inspections regarding the review of your application, you can pay for your inspection request through the Community Care Facilities Licence Inspection Request Portal.
    • Payment Method: Credit Card 
    • A fee of $148 plus applicable taxes
       
  5. Once payment is accepted, your reviewed application will be forwarded to Building, Electrical, and the Fire Department for inspections. 
     
  6. When you are ready for inspections, contact each section individually and state the inspection is for daycare. You will not be required to provide a permit number. 
  7. Once all inspection areas have submitted results, a letter will be sent to Fraser Health and the applicant, regarding the status of the application.

How to avoid delays in the application review process

Zoning

Ensure zoning of the proposed facility meets requirements for community care use by contacting the Planning Division at 604-591-4448. It is strongly advised this inquiry is made prior to submitting an application to Fraser Health.

Commercial locations

A Tenant Improvement Permit may be required in order to operate a Community Care Facility in a commercial space. Contact the Commercial Plan Review Section by email at tenant.improvements@surrey.ca or by phone at 604-591-4523 for tenant improvement inquiries.

When applying for a building permit, an application and plans must be submitted separately to Commercial Plan Review as plans will not be forwarded between departments. 

Secondary suites

Check the Secondary Suite Fee Online Inquiry Tool to see if a property is listed as: 'Suite, No Building Permit; Fee Charged'. If listed, permits will be required to remove or install a secondary suite prior to the review of any Community Care Applications.

Historical building records

Request a Historical Building Records Search to determine if the site has any permits that require final approval or unpermitted construction has been conducted on site.

Permit inquiries 

If you require clarification or assistance in applying for the necessary permits, contact Planning & Development's Client Services Centre at 604-591-4086. 

Contact

If you have any inquiries about Community Care Facility Inspections, contact us at buildinginspectionrequests@surrey.ca.