The lack of childcare places still pushes many parents into forced leave or telecommuting with babies in their arms. Nearly 34,000 children are urgently waiting for a place, according to figures obtained by The newspaper.
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“During meetings, I listen with my wireless headphones. […] In the evening, I try to make up for the hours I couldn’t do, but I’m still missing 5 to 10 hours a week on my paychecks,” says Biaolan Racette, 26.
For almost three months, she has been doing office work in the public sector while taking care of her little Ethan.
For this mother from Quebec, the situation is more difficult, because her 2 and a half year old son has a developmental delay. The private daycare that welcomed him until May terminated the contract, not having the resources to meet his needs.
Thus, the small family has no choice but to wait for a subsidized place.
“We are exhausted,” she says. Every day is an eternal kick in the behind. »
One year later
Last summer, The newspaper revealed the magnitude of the lack of child care spaces, illustrating its collateral damage.
Since then, the Legault government has multiplied announcements: creation of places, flexibility, improvement of the salary conditions of educators. Have they borne fruit?
As of May 31, 33,829 children were waiting for a place immediately in Quebec, according to figures obtained by The newspaper.
This data, which highlights the most glaring part of the problem, did not exist last year, which makes comparison with previous years difficult.
Of the thousands of parents who wait, many – usually the mother – are postponing their return from maternity leave and living on a salary (see others below). Others have chosen to return to work despite everything.
“I’m still here, but not here at the same time,” says Angela Moore, a 30-year-old Sherbrooke resident who telecommutes for a non-profit organization.
His working days sometimes start at 5 a.m. and end at 11 p.m.
“I am always at we. I always have my cell on me while I play with my daughter, in case I get an email. »
Lucky, but…
The mothers interviewed have in common to consider themselves “lucky” to have a flexible and understanding employer, to still have a job and a house.
“Lucky”, but at the end of their tether.
“My spouse sees the effects on my personality, because I’m too exhausted. I was more positive before,” admits Mme Moore, who feels guilty.
Mme Racette may even have stretched the rubber band too much, because she has been on sick leave for two weeks.
“My ability to adapt has reached its limit,” she observed.
– With Marie Christine Trottier, QMI Agency
Not easy for families
- Children waiting for a place immediately: 33,829 (as of May 31, 2022)
- Number of new daycare spaces in facilities licensed: 5623 (between 1er August 2021 and July 31, 2022)
Source: Ministry of the Family
It’s still the jungle, parents testify
Parents are still bearing the brunt of the fierce competition that animates the daycare market, which results in dubious practices in certain circles or even the anxiety of not finding a place.
The organization Ma place au travail, which campaigns for access for all children to childcare, says it receives as many messages from distraught parents day after day as it did a year ago. “We still fall out of our chair,” says co-spokesperson Marylin Dion.
CPE’S CALL… MISSED
Less than an hour: this is the time that elapsed between the call received by a mother from Quebec and the moment when she called the CPE to accept a place. But he was already too late.
Myriam Cyr32, went through a whole range of emotions when she saw the number of a CPE on her display in May.
“I shouted: ‘my love, we have a place!’ »
She was out shopping, her cell phone was on vibration. No message or text had been left. Her spouse, whose number also appeared in the file, did not receive a call.
She hastened to call back the CPE. She then learned that the place had already been given to another family, says Mme Cyr.
Contacted by The newspaper, the director of the CPE explains that she called to inform him that she was second on the waiting list.
” It’s my mistake. We wanted to go too fast. […] And I should have left a message,” admits the director.
However, this is not what Mr.me Cyr.
“I was told that they called several parents at the same time and that it was the first one who answered who had the place. »
Mme Cyr grew anxious about missing such a call again.
“I no longer slept. I was constantly on the lookout, with my phone open, in the shower. I had informed my employer […] that at all times, if my phone rang, I would answer […]. I really felt helpless. »
CLOSING AFTER CLOSING
For the second time in a year, a mother from Bas-Saint-Laurent is facing the closure of the daycare center that welcomed her children, illustrating the instability that continues.
“I am a contract teacher. In a week and a half, school starts again,” worries Joanie Caron, 35.
In a week, the home daycare that her two children, ages 3 and 4, attend will be closing.
It’s Groundhog Day for this family from the Kamouraska region, since on the same date last year, their previous daycare had also ceased operations.
Her eldest will hopefully soon be entering a CPE, but she must continue to search for her younger daughter.
” This is not obvious […]. Sometimes there are only temporary places. »
ON FORCED LEAVE, HIS WEB SHOP IS A HIT
The lack of daycare spaces has become “a blessing in disguise” for a mother from Sherbrooke who created an online craft store to earn money during her forced leave.
“I had to use creativity,” says Daphne Verreault24 years.
Her child will be 18 months in September and she still can’t find a place for him in daycare. As her spouse has a stable job, she is the one who stays at home, without being able to resume her studies in history teaching at the secondary level.
So she opened a shop on the Etsy platform. She sells jewelry, wood burning, objects related to esotericism.
Against all expectations, the popularity of his shop exploded.
“Never in my life could I have believed! For me, I had to have a job [pour gagner ma vie] “, she says.
DEPOSIT NOT REFUNDED
A Sherbrooke resident multiplies the steps to try to get back the $400 she gave as a deposit to an educator to reserve her place, unaware that this practice was illegal.
“As new parents, we sometimes make mistakes,” says Marie-Stefy Desjardins25, who wants to issue a warning.
In April, she and her partner visited Cathy Duquette’s unlicensed home daycare for a spot in September. The educator then asked that the contract be signed immediately and that an amount equivalent to two weeks of service be deposited to reserve the place.
“She wanted our answer immediately,” says Ms.me Desjardins, who, believing that this way of doing things was compliant, agreed.
The couple, however, began to doubt: the gaming facilities were basic, the certificates attesting to the successful completion of a first aid and judicial impediment course were not up to date, illustrates Mme Gardens.
She kept looking elsewhere and finally found it at the end of July. When she announced to the educator that she was canceling the contract, she refused to reimburse her the $400.
“No, sorry, but I kept your place all this time I lose I have to redo an announcement [sic] “, can we read as a response in the exchange of text messages.
However, daycare centers must comply with the Consumer Protection Act, which obliges the merchant to give a copy of the contract to the parents with a cancellation form and prohibits requiring a deposit, indicates by email Charles Tanguay, of the Office de consumer protection (OPC).
A formal notice, including The newspaper obtained a copy, was sent to Cathy Duquette on July 25. Mme Desjardins is still awaiting his response and reimbursement.
The OPC confirms that it has received a complaint against this daycare. A complaint is also being processed at the Ministry of the Family.
Cathy Duquette declined to comment.
The bleeding well and truly stopped
There are encouraging signs on the horizon after years of stagnation and a pandemic “hemorrhage”, which has seen many educators shut down their home environments.
“I’ve never seen that in my 37-year career,” exclaims Martine Beaupré, general manager of the corporation La Becquée, which has several branches of early childhood centers (CPE) in Beauce and Quebec.
In the past year alone, it has been able to open 62 new places that are already accessible to children and 114 others will open in the coming months. On this, projects that had been dormant since 2013 have finally unblocked, she underlines.
“It’s clearly sunnier than last year,” confirms Geneviève Bélisle, of the Association québécoise des CPE.
Keep the educators
The big challenge is to attract and retain educators, she explains. And the good news is that this year, we managed to stabilize the number of family leaders.
Since 2014, it was a bloodletting. Year after year, the number of leaders who jumped ship was greater than the number of new ones starting a daycare.
“It was catastrophic”, summarizes the Minister of the Family, Mathieu Lacombe, in an interview with The newspaper.
“We are no longer losing places in the family environment. You can’t imagine how much of a game-changer this is for us. »
“All the signals are green,” says the minister, who says he is convinced that his major project to ensure that all children have a place in daycare will be completed in 2024.
It will be long
“In one year, I don’t think the situation has improved much on the ground,” said the director general of the Association of Private Daycares, Samir Alahmad.
According to him, it will be necessary to wait another one, two or even four years before the places under development can accommodate children.
“But these are real places […]. These are not bogus advertisements, ”he assures.
“We feel that the bleeding is slowed down, even if [le patient] is not cured”, image the secretary-treasurer at the Federation of Early Childhood Workers of Quebec, Anne-Marie Bellerose.