The only public daycare in a rural Quebec town is closing its doors

The only public daycare in rural Saint-Ubalde, Que. is closing its doors. (Noovo Info)

Families in the rural community of Saint-Ubalde, Que., about two-and-a-half hours away from Montreal, say they started 2026 with a nasty surprise: their only public daycare announced it would be closing its doors on Jan. 12.

“It’s as if our world has suddenly fallen apart,” Sandy Deschamps, whose child attends the CPE, told Noovo Info.

The announcement by CPE Les Petites pousses leaves 19 families and 21 children without childcare.

An additional 20 children were on the wait list.

“On Monday, we’ll go back to work, and there will be no daycare,” said Mariem Ksaier, mother and chair of the daycare’s board of directors. “Where are we going to put our children?”

The daycare’s operators explain that the centre was forced to close its doors following the departure of two educators.

To remain open, the daycare would need three new full-time educators.

“Our dream is to have five people,” admitted board member Nathalie Gingras.

Parents say they worry that the closure could also have repercussions across businesses in the Portneuf-area municipality, with Ksaier pointing out that many of them may be forced to take time off work to look after their children.

She estimates that some 40 businesses could be affected.

Come Jan. 12, the nearest public daycares will be more than a 30-minute drive from Saint-Ubalde, and the parents lament they may not have room to accommodate all the children from CPE Les Petites pousses.