A mother launched a cry from the heart on social networks after the daycare her son attended closed without notice on November 6. More than 80 families and around ten educators found themselves without childcare and without jobs overnight. Testimonials.
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“I exceptionally kept my son with me that day. I found it strange to receive a call from daycare. His teacher was crying. She told me I had to go get my child’s belongings. I said to myself: “Let’s see, is it April 1st?”,” says Catherine Landry.
Her boy had been attending the educational daycare La Boîte aux 1000 mots for just a few months.
Taken by surprise, she turned to Facebook groups bringing together parents from Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie in search of solutions.
“I find this so annoying as a way of doing things, without any consideration for the attachment and emotional well-being of the children […] It breaks my heart to think that I will have to do a third integration for my little man (3rd because the first daycare was really inadequate),” she wrote.
Daphné and David, the parents of a 15-month-old child, also found themselves without daycare.
“When we arrived, there was a strange atmosphere. It was chaotic. It looked like a snowstorm day,” says Daphné, whose child had been attending La Boîte aux 1000 mots for five months.
“We saw our daughter’s teacher crying. She just told me: “We’re closing”. That was our announcement.”
“It’s inhumane,” adds David. To close like that, without notice, it puts everyone in big trouble.”
The couple deplores the shock that parents, but also children who have been attending the establishment for several years and who have become “attached to the place”, may feel.
A daycare that plans to cease its activities must notify the Ministry of Families and parents at least 90 days in advance, which the owner did not do until November 14, more than a week after its closure. confirmed the Ministry of the Family to 24 hours.
A service provider who is in non-compliance may be fined between $2,500 and $12,500, it is also specified.
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Financial problems
The daycare would have closed due to financial problems, according to educators to whom parents were able to speak.
These financial difficulties would result from the daycare’s failed attempts to convert into a subsidized daycare, Daphné suggests. A change that had been promised to parents “on several occasions”.
The daycare director did not return calls from 24 hours.
Photo d’archives, Chantal Poirier
Start from scratch
Following her message published on Facebook, Catherine Landry found a new daycare for her child.
For Daphne and David, it’s more difficult.
“The reality is that the only daycare available is unsubsidized daycare. We paid $52.50 per day and the only ones that have space at the moment are $55 per day. In addition, they are less clean, smaller and the menus are limited,” laments David.
“We agree that daycare is essential for a child. I don’t understand why children who lose it overnight like that are not prioritized to be placed elsewhere,” denounces Daphnée.
Wave of closures
The research is proving all the more complicated as the province faces a wave of closures of unsubsidized daycares, notes the president of the Association of Unsubsidized Daycares in Facilities (AGNSI), David Haddaoui.
Since 2020, 125 unsubsidized daycares have closed their doors, according to data from the Ministry of Families.
Mr. Haddaoui points out the labor shortage and the high cost of living, both on the part of parents and administrations.
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“There are good daycares with 80 places or more that are closing. They have to bear large expenses: rent, salaries, taxes, etc. Many do not have enough children. It costs them $800,000 per year to operate, but they receive $300,000 from the parents,” he explains.
And to save on childcare costs, which can easily total $100 per day for two children, more and more parents “prefer to withdraw [leurs enfants] to keep them at home or send them anywhere without guarantee of security,” he continues.
For him, the solution involves converting unsubsidized places into subsidized places.
