Children of parents with open work permits can stay in subsidized daycares, Quebec says

The Quebec government is now saying the children of immigrants with open work permits who are currently attending subsidized daycares can continue to do so. 

Daycares received a notice on Friday morning, obtained by Radio-Canada, that says the Ministry of Families is analyzing the situation around the admissibility of children of parents with open work permits to subsidized daycares. 

"In the meantime, the ministry is asking subsidized childcare providers not to terminate the service agreements of children already admitted," says the note. 

Earlier this week, a group of parents from France and Ukraine threatened to sue the ministry because of a directive sent by the ministry to daycare centres telling them that children of parents with open work permits could not attend subsidized daycare. 

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 subsidized system, but she said the ministry will analyze the files of children who already have a place.

Radio-Canada has reported that hundreds of children could have been affected by the ministry's directive.

The Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers said it was satisfied with the ministry's decision not to expel the children of parents with open work permits from daycares, but added that the situation should not have unfolded the way it has in recent days.

"We want a more humane solution that prioritizes the well-being of children, regardless of their status or that of their parents, before any bureaucracy and rigid application of existing rules," the association said in a statement.