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Posted on Oct 31, 2026

Changing of the guard: Quebec’s early childhood sector in October 2026

A new government, a new minister and a major ruling on the right to strike: October 2026 was a pivotal month for early childhood in Quebec. The Parti Québécois handed the Families portfolio to Méganne Perry Mélançon, with orders to deliver 10,000 spaces in CPEs (early childhood centres). Quebec's Administrative Labour Tribunal declared inoperative, in the case of the CPE Le Jardin de Robi, the Law 14 regime that governed strikes.

On the ground, centre directors are denouncing a registration portal that leaves spaces empty even though more than 30,000 children are on waiting lists. A reform of funding for children with special needs is raising concerns, while construction of new facilities continues from the Gaspésie to the Beauce.

A new minister and 10,000 spaces to deliver

The Parti Québécois won the October 5 election and formed a minority government. On October 21, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon unveiled his cabinet (La Tribune). Méganne Perry Mélançon, MNA for Gaspé, becomes Minister of Families and Youth, as well as minister responsible for Sports and Recreation and for the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region. She succeeds Catherine Blouin.

Her marching orders fit in one line: complete the CPE network, where 10,000 spaces remain to be created despite the staffing shortage, according to CHNC. Promised within four years, these spaces would come on top of the 15,000 already in development, for a total of 25,000 new spaces by 2030 (CBC).

The minister says she is confident she can get there, while acknowledging that she will have to "deliver the goods" (CHNC). According to CIEU-FM, she wants the state to once again take care of young children. In the Gaspésie, however, the regional feminist roundtable doubts these spaces will materialize at a time of budget restraint (Radio-Canada).

The sector reacted immediately. The AQCPE, which represents Quebec's early childhood centres, points out that the minister is the third person to lead the ministry in just over a year, and calls for stability. The association proposes four priorities:

  • a public timeline for the 10,000 spaces, with priority given to CPEs and disadvantaged communities;
  • a return in 2027 to the ratio of two qualified educators out of three, which was lowered during the pandemic;
  • recognition of the role of the coordinating offices for home-based childcare, which turn 20 this year;
  • predictable, stable funding for CPEs and coordinating offices.

The FIPEQ-CSQ union federation is instead calling for a broad public review of education (états généraux), from early childhood to higher education, and wants needs to be better assessed before more spaces are added. The network must be developed "with those in the field, not in their place," it argues. The Collectif petite enfance regrets that no minister has been designated responsible for early childhood, while the parents' group Ma place au travail proposes making it a joint project from the first months of the mandate.

Law 14: the Tribunal sides with the Jardin de Robi workers

On October 9, Quebec's Administrative Labour Tribunal (TAT) declared inoperative the regime of services ensuring the well-being of the population, created by Law 14 (formerly Bill 89), in the case of the CPE Le Jardin de Robi in Roberval. In a 76-page decision, the three judges concluded that the regime unjustifiably hindered the right to strike and collective bargaining (Le Droit, CSN).

The strike was launched in October 2025 to contest the employer's decision to stop paying for the unionized employees' 30-minute break (Le Quotidien). The first employer in Quebec to use the new mechanism, the CPE obtained an order in March 2026 to maintain minimum services, followed by a return to service three days a week. The dispute was settled in July.

The decision applies only to this case, the CSQ points out, but unions see it as a precedent. The CSN and the FTQ are asking the new government not to challenge the ruling and to review the law, as the Parti Québécois pledged during the campaign. The CSQ goes further and calls for the law to be suspended. By contrast, the Conseil du patronat du Québec, the province's main employers' group, is urging the attorney general to appeal: "Quebec cannot deprive itself of the tools that allow it to intervene."

The CPE employers' association for Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean said it was surprised, noting that families in Roberval had been left without childcare during the strike. For CPE staff, the stakes go beyond Roberval: the government's response will weigh on future labour disputes in the network.

Registration portal: empty spaces despite 30,000 children on waiting lists

More than 30,000 children are waiting for a space, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Families. Yet in a survey conducted in early September by the Association of Early Childhood Centre Managers (ACCPE), 63.3% of more than 400 respondents reported vacant spaces, The Canadian Press reports.

Centre directors blame the registration portal that replaced La Place 0-5 in December 2025. They receive only one name at a time, parents have five days to visit and then two days to respond, and filling a space can take up to two weeks, compared with less than one before, according to one director. In addition, 91.3% of respondents found children on the lists who were already enrolled elsewhere, already in school or had already turned down the space. Their association is concerned about "the reliability of the data."

In Montérégie, a group of nine CPEs and one subsidized daycare reports the same problems: one manager had to make more than 200 calls to fill 50 spaces (Le Canada Français). The ministry replies that the vacancy rate remains marginal, that it is purging inactive requests and that a review of the portal's first year is being prepared with sector associations. The FIPEQ-CSQ, for its part, questions the figure of 30,000 children, which it says may include children already enrolled in the network.

For parents, the wait remains long: in Quebec City, 600 children are waiting for a subsidized space in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood alone, where proximity no longer counts in allocating spaces since the 2025 law on equitable access came into force (CBC). Many parents have also complained to Ma place au travail about a ranking gauge that is too vague to tell them where they stand on waiting lists.

Non-subsidized daycares: conversions begin, pressure remains

Since October 1, 5,011 spaces in non-subsidized daycares have been gradually moving to the reduced rate of $9.65 a day, a process that runs until March 31, 2027. Announced in July by the previous government, the operation will even turn eight daycares into CPEs (Québec.ca). The 2026-2027 budget earmarks $396.5 million over five years for these conversions (Québec.ca).

There is still a long way to go. As of July 31, 55,806 non-subsidized spaces remained, notes Olivier Goulet, assistant director of an educational childcare centre in Quebec City, in Le Nouvelliste. He calls for a public, funded timeline to convert the rest. According to him, in 2024-2025 these daycares had the highest vacancy rate (16%) and the highest departure rate (29%) among qualified educators.

On the ground, the financial equation is getting harder. In Marieville, the L'Ange Rumiel daycare has more than 25 empty spaces out of 80, a first in 15 years: at $69 or $77 a day before tax credits, several families are leaving for subsidized spaces (Journal de Chambly). In Saint-Rémi, meanwhile, the La Petite Maternelle daycare is opening a second 80-space facility, creating 16 educator jobs and recruiting staff with or without training (Coup d'œil).

Children with special needs: funding reform under fire

On October 17, the FIPEQ-CSQ, the Regroupement pour la Trisomie 21 (a Down syndrome advocacy group) and the Table de concertation pour l'inclusion en services de garde (a Montreal-area inclusion roundtable) called on the new government to review the allowance for integrating children with special support needs (The Canadian Press). Introduced this summer in the ministry's budget rules, the reform now calculates funding based on the number of spaces in a childcare service, rather than the number of children concerned (Journal de Sherbrooke).

The signatories see a risk for the most inclusive settings. According to FIPEQ-CSQ president Anne-Marie Bellerose, CPEs that welcome more than 10 or 15 of these children would receive less money within four years. The organizations note that demand for one-on-one support has jumped 65% in five years and, according to the Table, some settings have already cut support positions.

They are also concerned about the exceptional integration allowance in effect since September 1, which is tied to the Supplement for Handicapped Children and could exclude some children, including those from asylum-seeking families. The FIPEQ-CSQ does acknowledge one advantage: the money goes directly to childcare settings, without parents having to provide a medical report. The federation repeated its request to the new minister on October 22.

New facilities: this month's construction projects

One facility opened in October and six projects were launched or moved forward, adding more than 500 spaces by 2028. The table is sorted by planned opening date.

City (region)FacilitySpacesPlanned opening
Val-des-Sources (Eastern Townships)CPE La Sourcière, Le Jardin des découvertes facility63, including 15 infant spacesOpened October 5
Saint-Rémi (Montérégie)La Petite Maternelle daycare (non-subsidized)80, including 15 infant spacesFall 2026
Drummondville (Centre-du-Québec)CPE Les Petits Lutins, new facility80, including 20 infant spacesJanuary 2027
Bonaventure (Gaspésie)CPE de Bonaventure100Spring 2027
Beauceville (Chaudière-Appalaches)CPE-BC Au Jardin de Dominique, Uni-Vert Jardin facility78, including 20 infant spacesJuly 2027
Saint-Lin-Laurentides (Lanaudière)CPE Au Royaume des Bouts de Choux, Le Petit Ruisseau facility80Summer 2027
Sainte-Adèle (Laurentians)CPE La Barbouille, expansion100, including 20 infant spaces2028

These openings mean new hiring: the Val-des-Sources facility is creating about 15 jobs. In Drummondville, the transportation company Groupe Bourret will reserve five infant spaces for its employees' children, ten during the first year, in exchange for a contribution to improve the outdoor play area. In Beauceville, construction will be completed five years after the project was announced, and 24 children have been cared for in temporary premises since 2022.

Workforce: a National Week amid a shortage

The fifth National Early Childhood Educators Week took place from October 19 to 25, under the theme "Mille et une façons d'émerveiller" (a thousand and one ways to inspire wonder) (Québec.ca). The FIPEQ-CSQ asked that this recognition translate into working conditions, resources and funding "365 days a year." On October 20, for the third VERT la Valorisation day, children and staff in CPEs and home-based childcare services were invited to wear green, Geneviève Blanchard of the AQCPE noted in an op-ed published by TVA Nouvelles. She also called for following up on the attention early childhood received during the campaign.

The numbers explain the insistence. The share of qualified educators fell from 73.2% to 66.8% in four years, according to the AQCPE. Ma place au travail estimates that more than 15,000 educators have left the network since 2021. The Parti Québécois has promised to pay students for their internships in the college-level Early Childhood Education program (DEC).

The shortage is especially acute in the regions, starting with the minister's own riding. In Gaspé, the new CPE Les Vire-vents was caring for only 37 children out of a capacity of 100 when it opened, and only one person enrolled this fall in the Early Childhood Education program at the local CEGEP campus, Le Pharillon reported in late August. Gaspé's mayor believes the solution will involve immigration (CHNC), and CPEs in the region are pushing to bring in foreign workers (CIEU-FM).

In the Haute-Gaspésie, the community-based daycare in Marsoui had to close temporarily: its only educator is going on maternity leave, and six families are left without childcare for at least a year if no replacement is found. About 30 residents met to look for solutions, as the eastern part of the Haute-Gaspésie has only 12 spaces along the 100 kilometres between Tourelle and Grande-Vallée, according to one parent (Radio-Canada).

Quebec's model under debate

Three analyses published in October shed light on the choices facing the government. The Observatoire des tout-petits notes that nearly one in three parents of young children works atypical hours: 27.5% of employed mothers and 35.4% of fathers. Yet childcare services are still mostly designed for weekday daytime hours.

On Childcarepolicy.net, researcher Gordon Cleveland draws two lessons from Quebec for the rest of Canada: expand the number of spaces quickly and limit reliance on for-profit providers, whose quality is lower according to several studies. Conversely, two authors from the Cardus think tank argue in Policy Options that child-care policy should not be designed solely around the economy and mothers' employment. They cite the Auditor General of Québec's 2024 report, which found that nearly 30% of the services assessed did not meet the quality threshold, and would rather give the support directly to parents.

Key takeaways for early childhood professionals

  • Jobs to fill. The facilities under construction will open between January 2027 and 2028, and some daycares are hiring now, sometimes without requiring training. Regions such as the Gaspésie are actively looking for staff.
  • Qualifications are an asset again. The requested return to a ratio of two qualified educators out of three would increase demand for trained staff, and the promise of paid internships would make training more accessible. The work-study pathway, a paid college attestation (AEC) offered at most CEGEPs, lets people qualify while working: at the Cégep de Sorel-Tracy, recruitment for the March 2027 cohort opens on November 23.
  • The right to strike in limbo. The government's response to the Law 14 ruling and its promised review of the law will weigh on future labour disputes.
  • To watch in November. The timeline for the 10,000 spaces, the review of the registration portal and a possible revision of funding for children with special needs.

Sources

Most sources are in French.

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