MONTREAL — The Quebec government says it will review cases involving children facing expulsion from daycare after the province moved to restrict access to subsidized spots for certain immigrants.
The concession comes following pushback to a new government directive, issued earlier this month, that said foreign workers with open work permits are not eligible for the province's subsidized daycare rate, currently set at $9.35 per day. A union representing daycare workers says the policy has taken the sector by surprise, and could result in hundreds of children losing their spots.
On Tuesday, two sets of immigrant parents from France and Ukraine threatened Quebec's Families Department with legal action, calling the directive "invalid and illegal." Their children, who have been attending a subsidized home daycare for more than a year, were facing expulsion on Wednesday.
In a social media statement on Wednesday, Families Minister Suzanne Roy stood by the government directive, saying the province is merely enforcing an existing rule.
"That said, before any action is taken, the (department) will analyze the files of children already receiving services," she said.
According to the directive, dated July 9, foreign workers with a closed work permit, which names a specific employer and duration of employment, are eligible to enrol their children in Quebec's subsidized daycare system. But those with open work permits, which allow them to work for any employer in Canada, are not.
The government maintains this is a long-standing rule that must be enforced. The directive advised daycares that have enrolled children of parents with open work permits to "rectify the situation without delay."
But in a statement earlier this month, a Quebec union representing daycare workers said the policy offers a "new interpretation" of existing regulations, "which goes against the practices in force for several years."
The union says the directive could cause hundreds of children across the province to be expelled from their daycare spots, and could force their parents to stop working to care for them.
Lawyers for the families from France and Ukraine are calling on the government to "correct" the policy, which they say is illegal and discriminatory.
The couple from France had a son in Quebec in 2023, who has been attending a home daycare since March 2024. The couple from Ukraine fled their country due to the war with Russia, and their son has attended the same daycare since last July.
Both children were deemed eligible in 2024. But according to a formal notice sent by the families' lawyers to the government on Tuesday, the daycare was informed on July 18 that parents with open work permits were no longer eligible, and that their children should be removed from the daycare by July 23.
The lawyers argue that existing rules do not preclude foreign workers with open work permits from enrolling their children in the subsidized system. They say the new directive adds "additional requirements that were not foreseen and that run counter to the text of the regulation, which has not changed for years."
They also say the directive violates Canadian and Quebec charter rights, "since exclusion from the subsidized daycare program results in disproportionate discriminatory effects on women."
In a social media statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the office of Quebec Premier François Legault defended the restriction, saying it has existed since the province's subsidized daycare system was created in 1997.
"A reminder has been issued to childcare providers, and it must be respected, period," said Florence Plourde. "Too many families are looking for a daycare space. The rules must be clear, fair, and consistently applied. It's a matter of fairness, nothing more, nothing less."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025.
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
