2,671 subsidized spaces to educational child care services for Outaouais
Sophie Demers
The subsidized spaces will be added to the educational child care services (SGEE) in the Outaouais by 2025 in order to meet the needs of the growing population in the region. On October 21, Premier François Legault and the Minister of Families, Minister responsible for the Outaouais region and Member of the National Assembly for Papineau, Mathieu Lacombe, launched the “Grand chantier pour les familles”. The “grand chantier” aims to provide every child with access to a child care space in Quebec. Following the launch, Minister Lacombe, along with Robert Bussière, Member of the National Assembly for Gatineau and Chapleau, and Mathieu Lévesque, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Justice, were delighted to see the creation of 2,671 educational child care spaces here in the Outaouais by 2025.
“As the Member of the National Assembly for Gatineau, many parents have told me how difficult it is to find educational child care for their children. I am delighted with today’s announcement, since my fellow citizens will soon have support that will help them in their parental responsibilities and, above all, provide them with a quality environment for their little ones. I am confident that today’s announcement and all the other measures taken by our government will quickly benefit all Quebec families.” said Gatineau MNA Robert Bussière.
The 2,671 new spaces will be created and distributed throughout the region’s four MRCs and the City of Gatineau. The call for projects is ongoing in order to provide more flexibility, allowing applicants to submit a project at any time of the year. The Quebec Government says the approach responds to a request from the community. For the Aylmer Sector, 164 places are being created from the previous call for projects and another estimated 75 to 149 places will be created because of the new announcement made on October 21.
The Quebec Government is adding 1,160 new projects in the call for projects launched on October 21 to the 1,511 previously announced. These spaces will be added through the expansion of existing spaces and services to increase available spaces or through the creation of new spaces.
“Today, I am truly proud to announce that every child in our region will have a place in the coming years. No other government has done something like this. I have made it clear that the child care system will be complemented, and the announcement of this new call for projects is our commitment. With our Grand Chantier for Families, I want those worries behind us. Across Quebec, 37,000 new spaces will be created by 2025, including 2,671 here at home in the Outaouais. As a government, we will also create spaces when there are needs. We are giving ourselves the right tools to be more efficient and develop our network better. All children, no matter where they come from, must be able to develop their full potential.” said Minister Lacombe.
The government also launched a new call for projects to allocate 17,000 subsidized spaces across Quebec, and 1,000 spaces in Indigenous communities, for a total of 18,000 new spaces to the SGEE network.
