Quebec responds to Supreme Court ruling with two-tier access to province’s low-fee child care program

The Quebec government has announced that Canadian citizens, permanent residents and those with closed work permits will get priority access to Quebec’s directly funded child care programs over parents with refugee claims in progress, temporary work permits, or international student visas. 

This policy announcement was made in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling that Quebec’s exclusion of refugee claimants from low fee programs violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Presumably, the Quebec government believes giving lower priority access addresses the violation. However, with 30,688 children on the waiting list for Quebec child care programs as of May 31, 2025, it is unlikely many not on the first priority list will be enrolled. There are about 5,160 children of asylum seekers aged five or under currently in Quebec. 

L’Association québécoise des Centres de Petite Enfance (AQCPE)  has criticized the government’s decision to prioritize some children over others instead of dealing with the systematic shortage of spaces. 

“As long as there is a shortage of spaces, there will be inequality, regardless of who is prioritized,” said Geneviève Blanchard — co-executive director of the AQCPE. 

“A child who has been waiting for two years deserves a spot. A child who has arrived in a new country, often under difficult conditions, needs one just as much. Both situations are real, and neither should be used to justify prioritizing one over the other.”