The lack of daycare places is forcing more and more cities to take steps to attract projects. Subsidies, land reserves, land donations… Municipal elected officials compete in imagination to create childcare places. But is this really their role?
No, replies the mayor of Nicolet, Geneviève Dubois. The City of Nicolet is often cited as an example for the $100,000 fund it created to convince daycare services to develop new places on its territory. “We wanted this money to serve as leverage for people who wanted to develop daycare centres, to allow them to go further and submit applications for places to the ministry. »
The government had just launched a vast call for projects, and Nicolet wanted to put the odds on its side. Created in December 2021, its fund was aimed at both CPEs and family daycare services. A maximum of $25,000 could be allocated to each request.
The incentive has had the desired effect, and two projects are currently “under review” to receive funding. But the mayor doesn’t think we should make it a habit.
“It cannot be a responsibility of municipalities to finance CPEs. That’s why the fund was only in place for one year,” explained Mayor Dubois. “Our citizens through their taxes are already subsidizing CPEs. […] Everyone has their skills, everyone has their responsibilities. »
Not an “obligation”, but…
Asked about this last week, the new Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy, had a lot to say on the subject. She believes that municipalities “cannot help but play an important role” in the development of child care services.
She says that when she was mayor of Sainte-Julie, she also got involved in the daycare file. It was in 2012, during the creation of a new incentive parking lot for workers transiting from the suburbs to the city. A land reserve was then created so that a CPE could one day grow next door.
If we want to create a real living environment, we have to think [à] set aside land for an early childhood centre.
The announcement of its construction must be made on Monday. “We were developing a neighborhood, with housing, services, public transport… If we want to create a real living environment, we have to think [à] set aside land for an early childhood centre. »
But isn’t that tantamount to shoveling responsibilities into the backyards of cities? “It is not a transfer of responsibilities”. We are not “asking municipalities” to release funds, she said, adding that elected officials have “no obligation” to intervene. But, yes, it can be “useful”.
The issue has become so central in the municipal world that in 2020, the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) created a special committee on childcare services. “To document the situation, to see what we can do as municipalities in the file and what political pressure we could do so that there is an overhaul of the system”, explains its president, Daniel Côté.
He assesses that the involvement of cities in daycare projects has spread between 2018 and 2020. “What is most common is financial assistance to each of the projects, whether it is a direct subsidy in hard cash, a gift of land or the sale of a municipal building at a modest price. »
Mr. Côté knows this reality well, having experienced it locally. At home, the MRC de La Côte-de-Gaspé has made family daycares eligible for financial assistance programs for entrepreneurs. With some success, he says.
When things aren’t going so well
But that doesn’t always work. In 2021, the municipality of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton went out of its way to attract a CPE to its territory. Then after months of formalities, the owner decided to move her project to Louiseville last year.
Last fall, it was the turn of the municipality of Orford to see its project abandoned. According to what Radio-Canada reported at the time, the Ministère de la Famille had judged that the CPE was asking for too many new places in relation to the needs of the MRC.
Elected officials often criticize the Ministry of the Family for its lack of flexibility in processing requests. They also often challenge the calculations made to assess needs. “It’s very difficult to interpret the department’s figures,” noted the mayor of Nicolet, Geneviève Dubois. She argues that, at home, “they are still talking about the 39 places announced in 2012”. “It becomes very difficult to know what the real needs are. »
However, Nicolet has the advantage of being populous enough (8,000 residents) to attract private daycares, which gives parents more options.
In the smallest communities, you can often only rely on family resources. In addition, it is not possible to create funds like that of Nicolet, since the Municipal Code that applies to them is more restrictive in this regard.
Small struggling communities
Located 13 km from Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Tring-Jonction is one of the small communities (1,500 residents) struggling to get places. “Since COVID, many daycare centers have closed. Now I only have one left and she [l’éducatrice] is on the verge of retiring,” explains the municipality’s director general, Jonathan Paquet.
Like many municipalities in the region, Tring-Jonction has decided to turn to the new “community daycare services” program of the Ministère de la Famille. With the assistance of a Coordinating Office in his region, he is looking for premises to set up a daycare center with 12 places. But that will not meet all the needs, according to him.
Last week, the Minister of Families was delighted with the success of the program, which generated 600 places in less than a year. The formula, she says, is here to stay.
However, in places like Tring-Jonction, it is not enough to meet all needs. “I think it will put a plaster on the bobo, ”says Mr. Paquet. “It’s not uncommon for parents to call us for a list of daycare centers in Tring-Jonction, but the list is short…”