Day care places: the needs are growing

“There is a success that comes from the parental leave, and now we must deal with this,” said Mario Boucher, Director-General, Regroupement des Centres de la petite enfance (CPE) de Laval. There are more children that will have to go into day care which means there will be a need for more places in the coming years.

Mr. Boucher also pointed out that more and more Montreal families migrate to Laval. “The Métro and construction of the Autoroute 25 bridge and highway is bringing and will bring many new families,” he said.

“Our primary objective is to favour the balance between work and family,” said Michelle Courchesne, Quebec’s Family Minister. “The success of the parental insurance plan seems to be maintaining itself, but there is also a need to respect the public funding that has already been advanced by four years to meet our commitment (for day care places).”

According to Mario Boucher, it might be of interest to make good use over the coming years of the “flexibility that the private day care system allows.” “It’s a milieu that functions with ease for five and six years and will respond to the change in the population in the next few years,” he said.

From now to 2010, 220,000 places will be created. The minister also announced the annual budget approved for educational care services will increase from $1.8 to $2.03 million.