New one-stop shop for Quebec daycare registry won't be in place until June 2024

Quebec Minister of Families Suzanne Roy responds to the Opposition during question period Thursday, April 6, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec City -

The one-stop shop for registering a child in a daycare won't be in place before June 2024, the Legault government announced on Wednesday.

By then, it will be a "trial period" before actually coming into operation in September 2024, Family Minister Suzanne Roy told a morning press scrum.

The minister was commenting on the publication in the Gazette officielle of the draft regulation to set up the one-stop shop.

It's "the next real waiting list ... so eagerly awaited by parents," she said.

Currently, more than 37,000 children are waiting for a place in a daycare. There is already a site called La Place 0-5 ans to register a child, but the platform does not distribute places.

If the regulation is adopted, there will be a clear "obligation" for daycare services and for requesting parents to register on the list, the minister said.

At present, despite being on waiting lists, parents have to go through a lot of hoops to get a place: they have to phone, e-mail, or show up on-site. The minister intends to put an end to arbitrariness in this area.

"There won't be someone randomly selecting a new client. This will be done using our computer system. We'll be the ones to give the name to the Centre de la petite enfance [which declares it has a vacancy]: here's the first child on your list," Roy said.

There will be an "ordering policy" to determine the order of priority of the children. The basic criterion will be the desired entry date.

There will be a centralized waiting list for each daycare. Parents will be able to apply to several daycare and parents will be able to apply for subsidized or private childcare.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 20, 2023.