MONTREAL -- Quebec spring break will go ahead as planned, the province's education minister confirmed on Tuesday.
Jean-Francois Roberge made the announcement at the National Assembly in Quebec City, where politicians returned for the first day of the session.
Roberge said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement Friday about new regulations that would require international travellers to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense helped sway the province's decision.
“After the prime minister very clearly sent messages from the federal government that we don’t go to Punta Cana or Cayo Coco, et cetera, that’s a reassuring factor,” he said.
There have been recent calls to cancel it so that families are discouraged from travelling and as a result, contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in the province.
“We took the time to speak to people in the educational sector,” he continued. “There was really unanimity in the sector that especially in a month, there’s already burnout in the school network, but by then especially, everyone will really need that break.”
The decision comes a day after teachers in the CSQ union voted in favour of five days of strike action after more than a year without a new collective agreement.
Depending on the region, the school break week will take place either the last week of February or the first week of March.
Last year, the provincial government blamed Quebecers travelling internationally for spring break on the high number of COVID-19 cases in the province.
