quebec child-care registration portal causing frustration among parents, cpes

as child-care centres in quebec make calls to fill spots for the fall, the province's registration portal is causing frustration among directors and parents alike.the childcare services registration portal replaced predecessor la place 0-5 ans at the end of 2025 and was marketed as a way to make registration simpler and more transparent. but eight months later, some cpes are reporting that glitches and bureaucracy are making the process more complicated. parents, meanwhile, say they don't fully understand the way the portal functions, making the task of securing a subsidized spot that much more daunting."many families are under a tremendous amount of stress," said sabine tutellier-de peyrelongue, general director of the cpe du centre-ville in montreal. "i speak with many mothers, especially professionals trying to return to the workforce, who are worried about this platform, which made a lot of promises but whose implementation has been chaotic."mélissa berthiaume is a montreal mother trying to understand how the new system works. her friend was recently offered a spot at a given cpe before she was, despite all criteria suggesting berthiaume should have been called first.among the main changes brought forth by the portal is that centres can't see their wait lists; instead, children are referred by the system when a spot opens. another change is that children aren't ranked based on date of registration to the portal, but rather the desired start date. berthiaume's start date was earlier than her friend's, but she still didn't get a call."i spoke with the cpe, and the woman i talked to basically explained to me that she has no control over it," berthiaume said. "from what i understood, (my friend) was prioritized because her child was younger."

the new system has internal age criteria for babies that isn't obvious to parents, separating them into categories of 0-9 months and 9-18 months. that's why berthiaume's friend was offered a spot first: the cpe requested a baby in the 0-9 month range for a sept. 1 start date, when berthiaume's baby will be 10 months old.ma place au travail, an organization that advocates for access to quality subsidized child care in quebec, said it only just became aware of that criteria despite attending information sessions."we're actually trying to explain it whenever we do interviews or speak with partners, so that people become aware, because it really can make a difference," said marjorie peyric, communications and special projects co-ordinator. "it can help explain why you think you should have a spot, then it can seem unfair when you don't get one. that's a completely legitimate reaction."in addition to causing confusion among parents, the age criteria has caused problems for cpe directors, who must ensure babies can move into higher age cohorts over the following years. the old system allowed cpes to see dates of birth, which meant groups could be formed in a way that made logistical sense, tutellier-de peyrelongue explained.berthiaume said she was told by the cpe that they want her son's age, but that they're prioritizing the 0-9 month age group in fear of being referred too many babies on the cusp of needing to change groups.according to quebec's family ministry, the categories were added to ensure practicality and fairness by standardizing admission practices that varied between centres. meanwhile, berthiaume, a single parent, has yet to receive a call. "i have a lot of friends with younger babies who are getting calls before me," she said. "i've started calling private daycares that charge $82 a day." tutellier-de peyrelongue said problems with the portal were obvious from the beginning, when it began referring children who were already enrolled.

such glitches cause significant delays in the filling of spots because of the way the referral process works. when a spot needs to be filled more than 15 days ahead of time, which is the case when cpes make calls for the fall, parents have three days from the time they're offered a spot to arrange a visit and two days following the visit to make a decision. if a parent never plans a visit, the two-day period to make a decision begins. when they don't respond at all, the cpe ultimately spends five days waiting for nothing."meanwhile, those are spaces that are vacant or about to become vacant and won't be filled," tutellier-de peyrelongue said.the ministry said the waiting period ensures families have reasonable time to make a decision. under the former system, they sometimes only had a few hours.peyric confirmed the waiting periods came from a request from parents, and "we believe it's reasonable to have a deadline and not put people under pressure to give a yes or no answer during a phone call.""after that, though, there has to be some flexibility," she said. "if we see that it's creating problems, we need to be able to adjust. it's not in anyone's interest — neither parents nor managers — to have spaces sitting empty for a month."the ministry said it's aware the issue has generated comments within the network and that it remains attentive to concerns."(the ministry) will continue to evaluate, together with its partners, potential improvements that would maintain a balance between filling available spaces quickly and ensuring a fair process for parents," said spokesperson noémie vanheuverzwijn.in december 2025, tutellier-de peyrelongue had two spots to fill following departures. she said it took her five months to do so."that had never happened to us," she said. "we ran into all sorts of problems. we had children whose families weren't interested and had already declined, but those same names came back to us at least three times."she said she had to go through the process about 30 times. while the duplication issue became obvious quickly, a montreal mother who preferred not to share her name said she has received more than one offer from the cpe her children attend over the past month."i received an offer for my daughter at the centre she's already attending, an offer for my son at a different location affiliated with the same cpe, and another offer for a space in the second group for his age at his current location," she said.

duplications a 'transitional reality'

the ministry called duplications a "transitional reality" to avoid disadvantaging families waiting for a spot, adding that a database update is planned this summer to remove inactive applications, which should reduce the frequency.other issues with the system were raised by cpe directors, including that they can't cap the age at five years when filling a spot. the portal occasionally refers children who are already in kindergarten, again causing issues because of the mandatory waiting period.tutellier-de peyrelongue said she also experienced issues while trying to admit the younger siblings of enrolled children — who are supposed to be prioritized — though she said she was able to figure it out in the end.lyubka stoykova, the general director of cpe le joyeux carrousel in montreal, encountered many of the same issues as tutellier-de peyrelongue.she said she feels the ministry should have better communicated how the new portal functions with parents.while the ministry said it communicated with parents in several ways, it appears some of the internal workings — ones that ultimately affect admission — remain unclear.

the ministry acknowledged the portal was a major overhaul for the network, but stressed that it has helped fill more than 61,000 spots in cpes and subsidized daycares and nearly 40,000 spaces in non-subsidized daycares and home-based daycares since it launched.asked if they have advice for parents navigating the new system, stoykova and peyric said children should only be added to wait lists at cpes that are of genuine interest."there's no point casting a net across half of montreal when you know perfectly well that in the end, those locations are too far away and you'll turn down the spot," stoykova said. "we've had a huge number of parents refuse spaces because they said 'that's too far for us.'"they also advise against putting babies on wait lists too early in fear of never getting a spot. cpes have had many parents decline because they aren't ready to be separated, stoykova explained.files should also be kept up to date. tutellier-de peyrelongue said this time last year, her fall groups were already set."now, we're still dealing with registrations," she said. "it's going to be a hectic summer for us. ... we'll be running at 1,000 miles an hour, because otherwise we won't make it. we won't get everything done. we won't be ready."for stoykova, "the biggest issue we've run into has been parents who don't respond," she said. "we're forced to wait, wait and wait."in the meantime, those who need a spot, like berthiaume — who delayed her return to work — must do the same: wait, wait and wait.kthomas@postmedia.com