Daycare Near Citadel, Port Coquitlam

Looking for daycare in Citadel? Love Kids Daycare Coquitlam is 10 to 15 minutes west via the Mary Hill Bypass, licensed under BC's Child Care Licensing Regulation, ECE-certified across every room, and now enrolling ages 3 and up. We are at 3007 Pasture Cir in the Ranch Park pocket of Coquitlam, sitting in the same V3C postal band as Citadel Heights.

Citadel Heights sits on the higher-ground southeast corner of Port Coquitlam, overlooking the Pitt River and the Pitt-Addington Marsh. The neighbourhood sits above the confluence of the Fraser and Pitt Rivers, which is where the hilltop-with-river-views character comes from. Our centre is on the Coquitlam side of that river system, and Citadel parents drive west to reach us. They don't walk. The route matters, so we've written this page around it.

How Far Is Love Kids Daycare From Citadel?

The drop-off drive from Citadel is about 10 to 15 minutes depending on which street you start on. Whether you're leaving Citadel Drive, Sunwood Drive, Riverwood Gate, or one of the streets in the Confederation Drive corridor, the natural route is the same. Head down to Highway 7B, the Mary Hill Bypass. It's a 7.27 km east-west link between Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam that runs along the Fraser River, and it is purpose-built for exactly this kind of cross-city drop-off. Follow it west, exit into Ranch Park, and you're at 3007 Pasture Cir.

That's the natural morning route, not a detour. If you commute west afterwards into Coquitlam Centre or over to Vancouver, you are already pointed in the right direction. If you catch the West Coast Express at Port Coquitlam Station on Kingsway Avenue, you can double back after drop-off.

About Citadel Heights: The Neighbourhood at a Glance

Citadel Heights is a hillside residential neighbourhood on the south side of Port Coquitlam. Housing stock is predominantly detached single-family homes built between the late 1970s and 1990s on 7,000-plus-square-foot lots, with a limited townhouse supply on the lower slopes and a smaller pocket of condo apartments. In 2026, detached homes sit in the $1.55 million to $2.0 million band and townhouses run $880,000 to $1.05 million. It's a move-up family bracket, not a starter market, which shapes who lives here.

The community is small and tightly family-oriented: population around 761, median age 43.8, average household income $147,774, and 68 percent of households have children. That last number is what shows up on the school run. Streets like Citadel Drive and Sunwood Drive fill with kids because most of the block has them.

Two neighbourhood parks anchor weekends. Castle Park has a playground, spray park, basketball courts, open fields, and hosts the Canada Day fireworks. Citadel Park has trails and Pitt River views and is popular for dog walking. For anything bigger, families head to Hyde Creek Recreation Centre at 1379 Laurier Avenue, with a lap pool, leisure pool, waterslide, sauna, gym, and dance and martial arts studios.

Daily errands happen on the downtown Port Coquitlam retail strip on Shaughnessy Street: grocery, coffee, restaurants, barbers. Retail is not inside Citadel Heights itself. It is a short drive down.

Schools That Feed Into Citadel

Citadel is served by SD43. There are three elementary catchment options depending on your exact block. Castle Park Elementary sits at 1144 Confederation Drive right next to Castle Park itself. Hazel Trembath Elementary is at 1278 Confederation Drive, just up the same corridor. Ecole Kilmer Elementary at 1575 Knappen Street offers the French Immersion option. Middle school is Citadel Middle at 1265 Citadel Drive, walkable from most of Citadel Heights. Secondary is Ecole Riverside Secondary at 2215 Reeve Street on the northern edge of the neighbourhood.

What this means for our preschool families is that we are prepping your child for a very specific set of kindergarten classrooms. When we build kindergarten readiness into the day (early literacy, taking turns, following a routine, self-regulation) we know the SD43 primary teachers your child is about to meet. That matters.

Transit From Citadel

Citadel does not have a SkyTrain station inside walking distance. Transit access is bus-based, running along the perimeter streets: Citadel Drive, Shaughnessy Street, Pitt River Road, and the Mary Hill Bypass corridor. Those routes connect out to the West Coast Express Port Coquitlam Station and to Coquitlam Central SkyTrain Station a little further west.

For parents heading downtown, the West Coast Express is often the cleanest option, and a Citadel drop-off at our centre still lines up with a Kingsway Avenue platform catch on the way back. For parents heading to Coquitlam Centre, Burnaby, or Vancouver via the Millennium Line, dropping off first and continuing west is the shorter total path.

Why Citadel Families Choose Love Kids

Citadel is a move-up family bracket. Sixty-eight percent of households have children, average income sits close to $148,000, and the parents making childcare decisions here have usually done their research before they call. So we'll be direct.

We have been running this centre for over 16 years. That's long enough to have seen kids through infancy and hand them off to kindergarten at schools like Castle Park Elementary and Hazel Trembath. Long enough to know the SD43 rhythm and the transition into Citadel Middle.

Every educator on our staff holds an Early Childhood Education diploma. Not just the director. Every person. ECE training means our educators have studied child development and know how to actually support your child through a hard morning or a growth spurt. It is the difference between supervision and care.

We are licensed by the Province of BC under the Child Care Licensing Regulation, inspected regularly, and held to provincial standards on ratios, safety, and programming. Our child-to-staff ratios are intentionally kept low.

We send daily updates to every parent. Meals, naps, activities, mood. You will not spend your West Coast Express ride wondering how the morning went. We also accept BC Childcare Subsidy. If you qualify, we help you apply it against fees.

Programs for Citadel Families

We run the full age range under one roof, so a Citadel family with two or three kids doesn't need multiple providers.

• Infant Care for babies under 12 months. All three under-3 seats are currently held. Waitlist only.
• Toddler Care for the 1 to 2-year-old range. Also waitlist under our current license.
• Preschool for ages 3 to 5. Play-based, kindergarten-readiness-focused, and actively enrolling for September.
• Full-Day Daycare ages 3 to 5, open 7:30 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday.
• Family Daycare multi-age setting for siblings, capped at seven children under BC licensing.
• Subsidized Child Care if your family qualifies for the BC Childcare Subsidy.

What a Tour Looks Like

Book a tour and we will walk you through 3007 Pasture Cir room by room. You will meet the ECE-certified staff, see the outdoor space, and get a straight answer to every question you bring. If your child has a specific temperament, an allergy, or a routine you want maintained, this is where we hear about it. We would rather understand your family before your child starts than figure it out on day one.

The tour is free. There is no sales pitch. It is a chance for a Citadel parent to make an informed decision about who is caring for their child every day.

Questions Citadel Parents Actually Ask

Nearby Areas We Also Serve

• Daycare near Mary Hill
• Child care in Oxford Heights
• Birchland Manor daycare
• Daycare options around Lincoln Park
• Child care near Riverwood

Citadel is a good place to raise kids. Views over the Pitt River, walkable parks, four SD43 schools inside the neighbourhood, and a short Mary Hill Bypass hop to a licensed, ECE-certified daycare on the Coquitlam side. Call (604) 338-8020 to book your tour.