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The BCAA Community Child Car Seat Program

From 2013-2023, BCAA partnered with United Way British Columbia and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. to help keep kids safe on BC roads through our Community Child Car Seat Program.

In BC it’s the law that parents need to use child car seats or booster seats for children under nine years old or 145 cm (4'9") tall and yet not every household can afford a new seat. That’s why BCAA donated over 14,000 child car seats through our BCAA Community Child Car Seat Program in partnership with United Way British Columbia (UWBC). We donated child car seats to community agencies that worked with parents and caregivers who were not able to access new, safe and unexpired child car seats, helping to protect their most precious passengers.

Also, as part of our equity and inclusion journey, in 2021 we took a close look at the evaluation criteria of our program to ensure we prioritized donations to underrepresented and multi-barriered groups/individuals. With the support of UWBC, we implemented an annual needs assessment to support community agencies that serve BIPOC, newcomers, and people made vulnerable by systems. Our foundational partnership with UWBC enabled us to ensure that we had a province wide reach and were reaching those in greatest need.

In an effort to continue reaching more underrepresented groups in BC, we expanded the program to support S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a Canadian social services organization focused on settlement services and programs for refugees and newcomers.

learning child car seat safety

Our child car seat safety website offers a wealth of car seat information including how-to videos, fact sheets and printable checklists to help parents and caregivers use child car seats and booster seats correctly and safely.

Here are a few key safety tips from our BCAA Child Passenger Safety Educators:

  1. Research and understand how to choose the correct seat for your child’s age and size
  2. Read your vehicle owner’s manual and always follow the child car seat manufacturer’s instructions
  3. Learn how to correctly install your child car seat and secure your child in it before you need to hit the road
  4. Practice, practice, practice!

Are you interested in providing child passenger safety training or education within your organization, to your clients or the public? Learn more about our Child Passenger Safety Educator course.