As of the beginning of November, the Quebec government will launch and administer a new platform for childcare registration in the province. The government says the change will allow for a more “equitable, safer and transparent” allocation of spaces in early childhood centres and subsidized daycares. The current platform, La Place 0-5, will stop operating on Oct. 16 so data can be transferred to the new Portail d’inscription aux services de garde in preparation for its full implementation in early December. In a recent interview, Marjorie Peyric, communications coordinator at Ma place au travail, a parent-led non-profit advocating for access to quality childcare in Quebec, outlined some of the changes parents should be aware of. “Before, on La Place 0-5, you had to create an account as soon as you knew you were pregnant. That was one of the first things you were asked to do. Now, on the new platform, parents will have to wait until the child is born, or if they’re adopting, until the child has arrived in their family,” she explained. She added that waiting to register until after birth will not affect a child’s place on the waiting list, since the new portal will prioritize children based on their desired start date rather than their registration date. “There’s still the issue of data security. We’ve heard about problems in the past, and while the government says it’s made the new system safe, it’s still a concern for parents and for us. We just hope they’re working really hard on it,” Peyric said. Non-subsidized private daycares and home-based daycares recognized by the Ministry of Families will appear on the new portal’s map, but parents will not be able to register their children there and will have to contact those facilities directly. “The fact that there still aren’t enough spaces and that the new platform doesn’t create any has made some parents skeptical,” she said. “The government says it will make things easier and more equitable, but will it really change anything? For us, true equity means every child has access to a quality, subsidized childcare space. Until that happens, there won’t be real equity.”
