The Legault government is promising to create thousands more spaces in Quebec daycares over the next two years.
Families Minister Mathieu Lacombe said Wednesday that while additional daycare spaces have been promised many times, he was committed to creating 2,500 spaces as quickly as possible with a focus on infants and parents who are students.
Lacombe said he would then make 11,000 spots promised by previous governments a reality.
He said there are 42,000 children currently on waiting lists for subsidized daycares across Quebec.
According to Lacombe, who made the announcement Wednesday morning, thousands of spots announced by the Liberals and the PQ since 2011 exist solely on paper, and up to 8,000 spots in home daycares are not being used.
Lacombe said his ministry has a team of 40 people working out how to implement his promise.
The daycare pledge comes on the heels of another CAQ promise to hire thousands of pre-kindergarten teachers across the province, shifting four- and five-year-olds to a classroom setting.
"It's my responsibility as Minister of Families to do so. It's not calculated. It's not a political game. It's only because I care about our network and I want to assure them we will be there and we will continue to invest money to create more places," said Lacombe.
The Parti Quebecois is calling the plan a public relations stunt.
Other critics have pointed out there is no way to force parents to choose to send children to pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, and that thousands of children have been using daycares until they started elementary school for years.
The CAQ wants to have room for 13,000 new students by 2021.
