Implemented in 2018 in some fifteen educational childcare services in underprivileged areas, the Quebec Breakfast Club pilot project will be extended to some twenty additional establishments located in 14 regions of the province.
The investment of nearly $3 million by June 2025, granted by the Ministère de la Famille, will thus make it possible to feed some 1,700 less fortunate children every morning.
The report drawn from the first four years of the pilot project revealed some very encouraging findings that justify expanding the initiative, underlined Tommy Kulczyk, President and CEO of the Breakfast Club of Canada.
The children participating in the project have shown more energy and concentration thanks to the full breakfast offered to them. They are also more eager to try new healthy foods, he pointed out.
“Children will benefit, that’s for sure, but when you think about it, you’re talking about a labor shortage. As a community, isn’t it to our advantage to ensure that all children can have an equal chance to develop their full potential for the future? he added.
The 15 establishments that initiated the pilot project, namely 12 early childhood centers (CPE) and three subsidized daycares, will see their participation renewed until 2025. To this group are added 16 other CPEs and three other subsidized daycares.
These establishments participate on a voluntary basis, said the Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy, who made the announcement at the Cafalaga private community daycare center in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal.
Disadvantaged childcare services are recognized as such based on the proportion of parents who send their child there without paying a contribution.
More children served over the long term
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Ms. Roy suggested that a greater number of childcare establishments could benefit from the program thereafter.
Mr. Kulczyk said the expansion of the pilot project was “a step in the right direction” in a context of growing needs.
The Breakfast Club and several partners, including the Ministries of Family and Education, are currently working on a possible universal school food program in Quebec. Recommendations should be presented in the fall, we learned.
In schools, the Breakfast Club has rolled out nearly 540 programs and provides morning meals to 81,000 students daily.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for the news.