Lessons from Quebec’s childcare system for other provinces and territories in Canada
March 20, 2023
Sophie Mathieu, PhD
Since 1997, Quebec has progressively implemented a low-cost childcare system across the province. There have been many successes and challenges related to this initiative during this time, which offer valuable lessons to other provinces and territories as they work to establish their own childcare systems.
While the debate about the importance of affordable childcare is over in Quebec, its childcare system continues to face some issues. Among these are the insufficient number of childcare spaces, the quality of care, and problems recruiting and retaining staff.1, 2 Since these have already been well documented, we will instead reflect on three lessons from the Quebec experience that have received less attention.
Lesson 1: All childcare services in the Quebec model are not “daycare centres”
During her 2020 Economic Statement, Chrystia Freeland affirmed that “just as Saskatchewan once showed Canada the way on health care […], Quebec can show us the way on childcare.”3 The Deputy Prime Minister expressed her intent to draw inspiration from the Quebec model to guide the implementation of a national childcare system.
In its original form, the childcare system in Quebec was not predominantly focused on offering services in “daycare centres” (i.e., called garderies in Quebec), but rather in centres de la petite enfance (CPEs), or early childhood centres. The terms “daycare centre” and “CPE” are not synonymous; they refer to different types of childcare. Daycare centres are all private businesses whose end goal is to make a profit, and they are not a part of the Quebec model.
There are two types of daycare centres in Quebec: those that offer subsidized spaces at the same cost as the CPE, and those that are not subsidized and offer spaces at market rates, which is well above $10 a day. CPEs, on the other hand, are not profit-driven.
The difference between a CPE, or non-profit childcare, and a daycare centre is not simply semantic, or even ideological. Generally speaking, the services offered in Quebec by CPEs are of higher quality compared with those of daycare centres. In any case, Quebec cannot boast of offering quality services to the majority of its children.
At the start of the 2000s, one study showed that only 27% of childcare providers offered a level of quality ranging from good to excellent, a proportion that rose to 35% in CPEs but fell to 14% in commercial daycare centres.4
Lesson 2: Even when the majority of spaces are offered at reduced cost in Quebec, less well-off families have greater difficulty accessing quality childcare
In Quebec, 36% of young children aged 0 to 4 years do not attend a regulated childcare service.5 Little is known about these children or about the systemic, economic, and cultural barriers that prevent families from accessing childcare.
The 2020–2021 Report of the Auditor General of Quebec highlights some of the disparities in childcare access between high- and low-income families in Montreal.6 For example, in the high-poverty neighbourhoods of Parc-Extension and Saint-Michel, as well as in Montréal-Nord borough, the number of spaces offered is higher in daycare centres than in CPEs. Yet, in the wealthy neighbourhood of Westmount, the ratio of available spaces in CPEs is higher.
In simple terms, the poorest families have access to lower-quality childcare, while wealthy families have access to the best services offered in CPEs.
Lesson 3: Childcare is only one of the policies in Quebec contributing to higher participation of mothers in the labour market
The federal government has largely justified establishing a childcare system based on its importance in supporting the participation of women in the labour market, inspired once again by the situation in Quebec.
If the impact of childcare services on the participation of women in the labour market is undeniable, it is worth noting that Quebec women can rely on a coherent family policy that exceeds that offered by low-cost childcare. Since 2006, Quebec has its own parental benefits program, the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), which distinguishes itself from the federal program of special employment insurance benefits by its less stringent eligibility criteria, more generous benefits, and paternity benefits that are not transferable to the mother.7
The high participation of Quebec women in the labour market is the result of an institutional context that goes beyond the availability of childcare. If the federal government truly hopes to increase the participation of women and mothers in the labour market, it must also address a parental benefits program.
Sophie Mathieu, PhD, is the Senior Program Specialist at the Vanier Institute of the Family.
Notes
- Mathieu, S. (2021). Qualité des soins en services de garde: un enjeu négligé au Québec. Options politiques. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/august-2021/qualite-des-soins-en-services-de-garde-un-enjeu-neglige-au-quebec/
- Mathieu, S. (2021). Quatre leçons à retenir du modèle québécois de services de garde. Options politiques. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/fr/magazines/april-2021/quatre-lecons-a-retenir-du-modele-quebecois-de-services-de-garde/
- Department of Finance Canada. (2020). Supporting Canadians and Fighting COVID-19: Fall Economic Statement 2020. https://www.budget.canada.ca/fes-eea/2020/report-rapport/FES-EEA-eng.pdf
- Japel, C., Tremblay, R. E., & Côté, S. (2005). La qualité, ça compte! Résultats de l’Étude longitudinale du développement des enfants du Québec concernant la qualité des services de garde. Choix IRPP, 11(4). https://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/12/vol11no4.pdf
- Dagenais, F., & Hotte, J.-P. (2019). Rapport préliminaire du comité-conseil Agir pour que chaque tout-petit développe son plein potentiel. https://www.mfa.gouv.qc.ca/fr/publication/Documents/rapport-de-recommandations.pdf
- Ministère de la Famille (2020). Rapport du Vérificateur général du Québec à l’Assemblée nationale pour l’année 2020-2021: Accessibilité aux services de garde éducatifs à l’enfance. https://www.vgq.qc.ca/Fichiers/Publications/rapport-annuel/165/vgq_ch02_cpe_web.pdf
- Mathieu, S. (2023). Access to parental benefits in Canada: A 50-year review of access to parental benefits in Canada [Policy brief]. The Vanier Institute of the Family. https://vanierinstitute.ca/policy-brief-access-to-parental-benefits-in-canada/
