Quebec CPE strike: three days of childcare services under new labour law

A sign at the Administrative Labour Tribunal, photographed on Jan. 30, 2024, in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The new law introduced by Labour Minister Jean Boulet has produced its first effect on the ground.

A daycare centre (CPE) where workers have been on a general and unlimited strike since Oct. 22 will now be required to provide “services to ensure the well-being of the population” on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The Administrative Labour Tribunal has issued a decision on the matter, ratifying an agreement reached between the employer, the Centre de la petite enfance Le Jardin de Robi in Roberval, and the union affiliated with the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, which is part of the CSN.

Specifically, these services must be provided at the CPE from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

There will be no service on Mondays and Tuesdays, as the strike will continue on those days.

“Although the hours of operation are reduced and there is a complete absence of services on Mondays and Tuesdays, the agreement allows parents and children to have stability and predictability.

Given that the strike must continue to have an effect, the tribunal considers the agreement sufficient on this point,” ruled administrative judges Irène Zaïkoff, Véronique Girard and Pierre-Étienne Morand.

The agreement also provides for the contribution of management staff, namely two supervisory employees.

“The educators will carry out all their usual tasks except those listed in the following paragraph. In particular, they will continue to complete child profiles, clean the child in case of any mess, and clean the room after snacks and meals. They will notify supervisors if there is a significant health or behavioural problem with a child,” the tribunal said.

Among the tasks that educators will not have to perform are note-taking, special activities, pedagogical planning, room preparation, directed activities, and ordering and preparing materials.

A first for the law

The law came into effect Nov. 30. It is designed to mitigate the impacts of a strike or lockout.

To do so, it establishes the criterion of “services to ensure the well-being of the population.”

These must prevent “disproportionate effects on the social or economic security of the population, notably for vulnerable people.”

Previously, the framework only provided for “essential services,” which were based on health and public safety.

The agreement between the parties also accounted for the possibility that the union might end its unlimited strike and trigger another type of strike.

The tribunal, however, found the list of services insufficient in that case and determined which services should then be maintained, whether it is another strike or a lockout.

The tribunal specified that if “the work stoppage occurs on Mondays or Tuesdays, no minimum service is required. If it occurs on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays, the parties must maintain the services ensuring the well-being of the population according to the rules of the present agreement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 27, 2026.

Lia Lévesque, The Canadian Press