On February 16, the Secretary of State for Family Affairs said in the House of Representatives that, according to available data, 33,000 children are on the official waiting list.
However, in a Radio-Canada report aired a week later, we learned that there were 39,000 other registrations in slots 0-5 ans, for a total of 72,000.
In a letter to Guylaine Leclerc, the parliamentary leader of the official opposition, Marc Tanguay, asks the Auditor General to paint a clear and impartial picture of the number of children registered with this one-stop service.
The interim Liberal leader believes the changes made to how the waiting list is presented have created more confusion than clarity. He believes the CAQ government is eroding parental and family trust and creating confusion in Quebec.
This publication comes in addition to a campaign launched by the Ma place au travail movement on social networks following the same report.
The organization, which has 25,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram, has been inviting parents since last week to take action by posting a photo of their child with the hashtag #monenfantcomptepas. Dozens of parents followed the call.
Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, one of the 39,000 parents of children registered with the one-stop shop who later needed a spot, also used the hashtag.
These 39,000 children are real children, and their parents are real parents who need a place in an educational childcare service to get back to work without breaking the bank. It is irresponsible to exclude her to look good, stressed Gouin’s deputy.
Family Minister Suzanne Roy was questioned in the National Assembly about the discrepancy between the actual number of children registered for kindergarten and the official data. (file photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / Jacques Boissinot
Family Secretary Suzanne Roy posted a reassuring letter to parents on social media on Monday.
She reminds that all children aged 0-5 years registered in the place are taken into account and that the report that is now made available to the public, ie the official government waiting list, focuses on children who immediately need a place need to meet the real needs of the province.
39,000 children are also enrolled in Place 0-5 […] and will need a place in the future. They’re not considered to be waiting, but their parents are concerned and we understand that, she says.
We are working tirelessly to create places so that the majority of them have a place at the place and time they want, adds the minister.
Children registered in place 0-5 by August 31, 2022
- 33,356 children have registered for a place by August 31, 2022
- 39,075 children registered for a place after August 31, 2022
This total of 72,431 children does not include 28,717 pre-registered pregnant women. Nor does it include an indefinite number of children who already have a place in care and are hoping for another (e.g., an unsubsidized place to be converted to a subsidized place for $8.70). The department says it cannot extract this data from the system.
For its part, the Ministère de la Famille assures that the balance presented to the public since last spring is the one that most faithfully reflects the needs of day-care centers in Quebec.
If 72,431 places had been available on August 31, 2022, almost 40,000 places in the network of childcare facilities would have been too many. [places subventionnées ou non]explains Bryan St-Louis, spokesman for the ministry.
The Ministry points out that when considering the total of all registrations and pre-registrations, it must be taken into account that around 55,000 places become vacant every year for children who leave the childcare association to enter kindergarten.
The Ministère de la Famille assures that the balance presented to the public since last spring is the one that most faithfully reflects the needs for daycare in Quebec. (file photo)
Photo: Radio Canada / Marc-Antoine Mageau
There are currently 291,000 places in the daycare network. The Legault government estimates that Quebec’s total need is 320,000 places.
In autumn 2021, the CAQ government committed to creating 37,000 places to meet the needs of the network. Since then, 8,378 have been created, including 7,000 in the last year, a record in 15 years, Radio-Canada recently reported.
The government also intends to convert unsubsidized places into subsidized places to achieve its goals. To date, 3,500 spaces have been converted in a pilot project, from a target of 56,000.
How does the government come up with 320,000?
According to Ministère de la Famille forecasts, made in 2021 during the launch of the Big project for families, there are approximately 430,000 children under the age of 5 in Quebec.
Not all of them need childcare. Some are in 4 year kindergarten, others will enter daycare later and others will eventually never attend due to parental choice.