A CPE in Laval is struggling to keep a temporary facility open because there are several hundred young children on the waiting list. However, the Family Ministry refuses to continue operations because there are already too many places in this sector.
Published at 12:43 am. Updated at 05:00.
The premises in which these 42 establishments are located in the Pont-Viau district are fully equipped and functional, emphasizes the director of the CPE Chapeaux ronds et bottillons, Martine Desjardins, who manages these establishments.
“We received $50,000 from the ministry for development work,” notes Ms. Desjardins. The premises are there. »
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The director of the CPE Round Hats and Booties, Martine Desjardins
All parents find the facilities exceptional. It would be absurd if they remained unused when so many desperate parents are looking for a place and calling us every day.
Martine Desjardins, Director of CPE Round Hats and Booties
Vicky Roy, former head of youth health services at CISSS de Laval, even wrote a letter last winter supporting the project to convert the 42 temporary places into permanent places. Her ministry, she wrote, “does not always manage to find places for the majority of children in our programs and especially in.” [les secteurs de Pont-Viau et de Laval-des-Rapides]. »
“It is therefore desirable that your temporary facility remains open as it is already functional and would allow additional places to be obtained for our vulnerable or disabled children,” Ms Roy continues in her letter.
The CPE Chapeaux ronds et bottillons, whose main facility accommodates 75 children, received permission a few years ago to operate 85 additional places in a new building. In October 2023, while waiting for the building to be completed, the government approved the CPE to open 42 of the newly granted places in temporary premises adjacent to the main facility in 2021.
These are the temporary spaces that the CPE wants to make permanent. The 85 new places have already been taken; This would mean 42 additional places are available.
Martine Desjardins says she has 731 names on the waiting list for her CPE. For the entire island of Laval, the Ministry of Families website indicates that 943 children are registered with the one-stop shop for a place in CPE. The ministry assumes a “slight” oversupply of places for the Pont-Viau and Laval-des-Rapides sectors.
However, because the Pont-Viau district has a poor and immigrant population, registrations at the one-stop shop may not reflect the extent of the need, according to Ms. Desjardins.
A hard ending to swallow
For many parents whose children are on the waiting list, the closure of the transitional facility is inexplicable and difficult to accept.
“There is nothing in the area for $8.85 a day,” complains Fatiha Alileche, mother of two girls aged one and two and a half, who lives in the neighborhood and called the CPE chapeaux ronds and booties several times in the hope to have to get places there.
If I have to send my daughters to daycare for $50 a day per child, it’s not worth the work.
Fatiha Alileche, mother of two little girls
Ms. Alileche found subsidized places at a daycare center in Montreal, but since she works from home, this situation requires long journeys.
Sandy, on the other hand, doesn’t even have this option: she and her partner don’t have a car and travel by public transport. They are therefore looking for a place in their neighborhood for their two and a half year old child.
The baby was admitted to a day care center, but Sandy, a former educator, was unhappy with the quality of care.
So she quit her job to take care of her children. “There was no other option,” says the young mother, who is withholding her last name because she fears her comments could affect her chances of getting a place.
I am very disappointed because I believe in public services. A place in a CPE should be a right to ensure the quality of services and improve the living standards of women.
Sandy is looking for a place for her child
Nevertheless, these mothers, like many others, had already registered their child with the one-stop shop before the birth.
Last nail
After a letter from the board of the CPE Chapeaux ronds et bottillons to the Minister of Families Suzanne Roy last winter, Martine Desjardins believed that there would be the possibility of a permanent installation, since he was informed that the file had been analyzed.
But last July, the ministry’s head of department put the final nail in the coffin of these hopes by confirming that the temporary 42-place facility would no longer be able to accommodate children following the opening of the new 85-place facility.
The Ministry of Family Affairs explains that the coordinating office area where Chapeaux ronds et bottillons is located has a surplus of 163 places. However, it could not be revealed how many children were on the waiting list in this sector, with updated data expected in October.
“The model takes into account monthly demographic trends, including births, migration flows, etc. », explains ministry spokeswoman Wendy Whittom.
“Of the 85 places allocated to the CPE Chapeaux ronds et bottillons, 42 were opened more quickly and in a temporary installation,” she continues. The 42 places are part of the 85 places allocated. Therefore they cannot be added. »