Latest news with #subsidized daycares
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Quebec backtracks on plan denying immigrant children daycare spots
Quebec is backtracking, for now, saying that children of immigrants with open work permits can stay in subsidized daycares. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Quebec is now backtracking on its plan, saying that children of immigrants with open work permits can stay in subsidized daycares while their files are under review. Silvana Wallace speaks for thousands of early childhood care workers and said the pause comes too late. 'These families suddenly found themselves facing precarious living conditions because they could obviously lose their jobs in the face of not having a place to leave their children,' said the Federation des intervenantes en Petite Enfance du Quebec vice-president. The Ministry of Families told daycare centres on Friday to keep agreements in place for those already enrolled. The move reverses a July 9 directive targeting parents with open work permits. Provincial Liberal MNA Jennifer Maccarone accuses the CAQ government of playing politics on the backs of vulnerable children. 'This is really the CAQ creating an issue so that they can create a false solution to something that was never a problem in the past,' she said. She says that denying them daycare spots denies immigrant children a fair start. 'If we want to integrate them, if we want them to learn French, if you want them to be part of Quebec society, that starts with early childhood education,' said Maccarone. The ministry declined a CTV News request for an interview. Family Minister Suzanne Roy said on social media that the regulation still applies, particularly for new admissions. 'Parents who are not eligible will not be able to benefit from a subsidized place,' she wrote on X. 'The MFA requests that the network not terminate the agreements of children who already have a place before the ongoing verifications are completed.' She added that children already in the system will be reviewed case-by-case. Roy said the policy dates back to 1997 to prioritize Quebec families. Lawyer Olga Redko argues that Roy is being misleading. 'It's an interpretative problem and, read properly, the regulation already protects open work permit holders' rights to access the subsidized spaces,' she said. Her firm, IMK, represents two families who threatened legal action if the directive stands. Redko says the current uncertainty puts many parents in an impossible position. 'Lots of parents in this situation simply can't afford to send their children to private daycares which can cost from $45 a day and upwards,' she said. Advocates say compassion is needed and that the directive should be permanently scrapped. For now, however, the future remains uncertain.
CBC
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
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.
