Montreal rally highlights urgent need for universal child care in Quebec

Frustrated by long waitlists and slow government action, Quebec parents and child care advocates held a rally in Montreal denouncing the lack of available spots in CPEs—government-run daycares.

Organized by Ma Place au Travail, the rally highlighted the growing crisis; organizers say that nearly 30,000 children are still waiting for a daycare space.

“That’s why we’re here today to make sure that the  government can hear that there are still thousands of children waiting and we need to do something,” said Oriane Couchoux, parent & board director of Ma Place au Travail. “I have three kids, my oldest right away when I realized I was pregnant. I went on La Place 05 and registered her, put her on a  waiting list to get a spot. She got her first call, she was almost three and a half.”

Some parents say they were forced to take time off work beyond parental leave because they were unable to find a spot for their child. 

“It took us four months to get a spot in a CPE around our house so I had to take a leave of absence from my job after my parental leave,” said Alexandra Rachita, parent of Child in CPE. “You never know, either you’re gonna get a spot quickly or not so I think that’s the biggest issue is the stress factor.”

“63 per cent of the women had to take an extra leave after their parental leave because they don’t have a daycare space,” said Marylin Dion, general manager at Ma Place au Travail.

Other parents enrolled their children in private daycares while waiting for a CPE spot to open up. Private daycares can cost upwards of $50 per day compared to $9.35 in the Quebec run daycare system.

“We started with a private daycare and we were on a waitlist for several years,” said Nora, parent of child in CPE.

In a statement to CityNews, Quebec Family Affairs Minister Suzanne Roy said: 

“Our government has created nearly 30,000 new subsidized spaces across Quebec in just over three years. Over 15,000 places are currently under construction. Every month, new projects come on stream, new facilities are inaugurated, new places are made available for families.”

Organizers say progress has been painfully slow, and families can’t afford to keep waiting. They also say it won’t be fixed without better working conditions and wages for educators—many of whom haven’t had a contract in over a year. There were 3119 vacant jobs in CPEs according to a July 2024 report. 

“We don’t have enough workers to take care of our kids and just in 2024, 4000 workers left the field,” said Dion.

“We’re trying to have more space for kids but we don’t have enough educators so we’re trying to increase the salary to attract more educators which will mean more spots,” said Philippe Laplante, CPE worker.

Families, unions, and opposition politicians calling for universal access to quality child care joined the march.

“It’s important to put pressure on the government of the CAQ and Monsieur Legault to make sure to pay these workers decently to ensure that we still have good quality daycare for children in the future,” said Ruba Ghazal, spokesperson for Quebec Solidaire.

“It’s not a daycare, it’s education for the children so you need competent people to provide these services,” said Daniel Grenon, parent of child in CPE.