In Trois-Rivières, in the Mauricie region, a night-time day-care center is struggling to fill up, despite the need just a few months ago.
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The owner now fears having to repay her subsidies.
“The daycare would have been full if I had opened in January,” says owner Mélanie Morin.
She is still waiting for her first registrations. His night watch duty has been open for weeks. The beds are against the wall and the playroom is ready. The mother even had a waiting list.
“I had to visit the city and do several renovations before I could get the city to come inside … which delayed things. I was also waiting for the coordination office to visit her, so the parents went elsewhere,” she said.
These too long delays have hurt him. Mélanie Morin, who is also an elementary school teacher, took steps to open her daycare last December and was only recognized in October.
“What stresses me out is having to pay back the state stipend if I don’t have full-time kids. The “one-year period” could start as soon as I have the children,” added Mélanie Morin.
According to the Interprofessional Health Federation of Mauricie and Center-du-Québec (FIQ), the lack of daycare places in the health sector is still the reason for many outflows.
“We see layoffs, single mothers who cannot find childcare, or spouses working atypical shifts that make it impossible for them to go to work,” said President Patricia Maillot.
The FIQ will make Mélanie Morin’s support services known to its members.
Efforts to combat the lack of daycare places are also showing considerable success in Trois-Rivières. The CPE Le Cerf-Volant has noticed a decrease in the number of calls and new requests.
In 2022, 57 new day care centers were created thanks to subsidies from Quebec and the IDE Trois-Rivières program, representing 345 new places in the Trois-Rivières region.