Concordia University postpones closure of daycare after community backlash

Concordia extends daycare lease Parents who use the daycare centre at Concordia are relieved after the university extended the lease for more than two years

Concordia University is backtracking on plans to close an on-campus daycare next fall, much to the relief of parents who feared they would be scrambling for childcare spaces.

The CPE (centre de la petite enfance) Concordia has been operating since the 1970s at the Grey Nuns Residence building and has been a lifeline for students and staff who bring upwards of 80 children there for full-time daycare.

The university had planned to end the lease for the space in the fall of 2023, but confirmed Wednesday evening that it will extend the lease until Aug. 31, 2025, following "a recent round of collaborative and fruitful discussions."

"This extension will provide the CPE with the additional time it has requested to find a new location, with the help and support of the Ministère de la Famille," Concordia wrote in a notice to community members.

The notice, signed by Concordia's vice-president of services and sustainability Michael Di Grappa and daycare director Maria Ottoni, said the university will work with CPE Concordia and a real estate firm to find the new space.

"The University has committed to maintaining its current level of funding and other support for the CPE once it is relocated," Concordia confirmed in the communique.

Staff members praised the university's decision on social media after learning Concordia would no longer close the daycare next fall — a decision they criticized as lacking proper consultation.

Concordia had said that it needed the space on St-Mathieu Street for academic purposes.