Parents with open work permits threaten to sue Quebec over access to subsidized daycare
Minister says rules denying these families eligibility had been in place for decades
Parents from France and Ukraine are threatening to sue Quebec's Family Ministry if the government excludes their children from subsidized daycare programs.
The parents sent the ministry a legal notice on Tuesday. Their children had been accepted into a Montreal home daycare centre in 2024 upon presentation of their open work permits.
However, they recently learned from their daycare co-ordinator that they will have to leave the daycare due to a new directive issued by the Family Ministry earlier this month.
That directive, issued to daycare operators, said that the children of parents with open work permits are not eligible for subsidized, $9.35 per day daycare services, known in French as CPEs.
Daycare operators have said the directive came as a surprise to them.
"It's hard for us to keep track of what has changed, what hasn't changed," said Alexis Pereira, the director of CPE Les Copains d'Abord. "It's very confusing."
Family Minister Suzanne Roy said in a post on X Wednesday that the rules have been in place since the start of the network. She said temporary immigrants who are on an open work permit are not eligible for spots in the CPE system, but she said the ministry will analyze the files of children who already have a place.
Earlier in the week, Radio-Canada reported that hundreds of children could be affected by this directive.
When prompted Wednesday to give a precise number, the family minister's office told Radio-Canada it would be "premature" to provide an answer.
According to the parents who are threatening to sue the ministry, the directive is invalid and illegal.
They say they are in Quebec primarily for the purpose of working and that they hold a work permit, which should provide them with access to the subsidized daycare system.
They are asking the ministry to correct its directive and allow their daycare to confirm their children's place.
Written by Matthew Lapierre with files from Radio-Canada