Liberals pitch $3,000 bonus to increase number of daycare spots

QUEBEC The Quebec Liberal Party is proposing up to $9,000 in bonuses over three years to fix part of the shortage of spaces in daycares.

The party believes its proposition, which would cost $36 million a year, would result in rapidly opening at least 12,000 new spaces in daycares, and solve a problem that Family Minister Mathieu Lacombe has been trying for months to fix.

“We're in an unprecedented crisis,” said Liberal family critic Marc Tanguay in an interview. “The profession is not valued and the conditions are difficult financially.”

Under the proposal, a new $3,000 bonus would be created for each new family daycare, to encourage the opening of new spots and counter a trend that saw 1,500 family daycares shut down since 2020. The bonus would allow new family daycare operators to finance renovations at their homes, buy material and toys etc.

If 2,000 new candidates sign up and each opens six spots, that would mean 12,000 new spaces, which are already budgeted for but not used, the party says.

Meanwhile, to consolidate the existing network of 12,000 family daycares, the Liberals suggest giving them a $3,000 bonus over three years.

“We have to give them an incentive longer than a year — predictability, stability. That way you commit to a more long-term outlook,” Tanguay said.

New family daycares would also be eligible for the $3,000/year bonus after their first year.

The value of the bonus was based on the average income of $30,000 a year for family daycares, meaning this would be a 10 per cent bonus. Tanguay said it would be a minimum and the ministry could propose a larger incentive.

He said the $36-million cost respects the ability of Quebecers to pay, and the proposition was simple and could be implemented rapidly — a few weeks, compared with the 36 months it takes to open a public daycare. Tanguay said the proposal is ideal for regions like the Gaspésie and Saguenay—lacst-jean, which are desperate for more daycare spots.

The grassroots Ma Place au travail movement counts 51,000 parents who are waiting for publicly subsidized daycare spaces for their children.