2023-08-05 00:08:00
The wide disparity in prices between subsidized and unsubsidized daycares creates headaches for parents, but also for private daycare owners who do not receive government support.
This is the case of Josée Poirier, general manager of the Académie GP, in Montreal. This one must, again this year, reorganize the groups of its non-subsidized private daycare, because many parents leave these facilities for the benefit of subsidized daycares.
“Parents don’t leave because the service isn’t of good quality. The parent leaves because there is a financial issue. Children do not deserve to be tossed about like that,” said Ms. Poirier, in an interview with TVA Nouvelles.
She asks for a bonus from the parents of the help of Quebec.
“From the moment everyone pays the same price, there will be a natural selection that will take place, daycare centers will remain as they are. We will not go to waivers every August. Every August, it’s “we undress Paul to dress Pierre”, maintains Josée Poirier.
Our journalist carried out the test with the Quebec reimbursement calculation tool for a middle-income family. Quebec reimburses up to $40 per day, but most non-subsidized private daycares charge $55 or even $60 per day. That represents a difference of $4,700 per year.
“As a parent who pays our taxes, we should be able to take our friends to a daycare that is covered by the government. On the other hand, the wait of 3 to 5 years is ridiculous”, maintains a father.
“If I didn’t have the means to pay more, we would be in really bad shape. I would have had to go knock on doors. I would have had to find a way to find myself in a CPE and, necessarily, not necessarily in my sector, ”claims a mother.
A call for tenders from the government was launched in the spring to subsidize 5,000 of the 65,000 places in the private sector, but this is too little, according to the organization Ma place au travail.
“We are happy to know that the government and the ministry are committed to conversion so that everyone pays the same price, but we can see that at this rate, it is not our children who will benefit. , but perhaps our future grandchildren in the best of cases”, indicates the president of the Board of directors of the organization, Oriane Couchoux.
The family minister’s office says it understands parents and has accelerated the process of subsidizing more child care spaces.
To see the full report, watch the video above.
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