Years without daycare: Shortage on Magdalen Islands threatens community growth

A severe shortage of daycares on the Magdalen Islands, especially in the eastern end of the archipelago, is forcing families to go without a spot for years.

Jessica Goodwin, a mother of two, said she hasn't had a spot since April 2019 when the last family-run daycare in Grosse-Île closed.

Goodwin, who is an administrator for three boating companies, including two owned by her husband, has since relied on a patchwork of child care provided by family and friends.

Goodwin said even when she was home, she often found herself struggling to care for her children while calling suppliers and helping run the companies.

She said she feels lucky she had as much support as she did from family and friends, "but it was far from ideal."

Respite daycare for the fishing season

Lobster season poses a child-care crunch for many families in the fishing communities of Grosse-Île and neighbouring Grande Entrée, so the Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders (CAMI) worked with both municipalities to set up a respite daycare for about 30 children.

"We're really happy to have it because it's literally saving a lot of people and a lot of families," said Goodwin, whose youngest daughter is attending.

The trouble is, no one knows exactly how long it will last.

A long drive to daycare

The majority of daycare spots, including the two CPEs on the Islands are concentrated in the central part of the archipelago, 40 minutes away from Grosse-Île.

Goodwin said it would take two to three hours per day for drop-off and pick-up.

It's gotten to the point where families are choosing not to expand because they don't have access to childcare, she said.

"They don't have the means. They don't have childcare and the extra stress of having an extra child without childcare is just too much for them," said Goodwin.

She admits the lack of daycare spots is weighing heavy in the balance as she and her husband consider the future of their family.

Family-run daycares closing

According to the Family Ministry there is a need for 91 more spots on the Magdalen Islands.

The director of CPE Chez Ma Tante, Céline Miousse, said just in the past year, five family-run daycares have closed their doors for a variety of reasons. Another is set to close in July which represents another 40 spots.

"In past years there was an equilibrium where some would close, but others would open," Miousse said. "But this year, in the current context, the conditions haven't been favourable to accreditation and opening up new daycares."

Staffing daycares is a challenge across Quebec, and so far no one has come forward to open a new family-run daycare, said Miousse.

The other CPE, which isn't run by Miousse, is set to open a new installation with 70 new spots before the end of next year, but it too will be in the western end of the archipelago, a 40 to 45 minute drive from Grosse-Île.

One plan abandoned, another in the works

Helena Burke, executive director of CAMI, says the group worked with a CPE to put forward a proposal to open a satellite installation in Grosse-Île to serve the population in the eastern end, but it has since been abandoned.

She said the government has not put out a call for tenders for new CPE spots, despite discussions with the Family Ministry and the parliamentary secretary for relations with the English-speaking community, Christopher Skeete.

"We're back to the drawing board," said Burke.

The group is now trying to open a private daycare.

"We need the spaces, we need to find a solution."

Burke said the lack of daycare is keeping women out of the workforce who could be contributing to the vitality of the community.

"If we want to renew our community, if we want to bring in newcomers, if we want to bring islanders back, if we want to keep islanders here, we need to have the services in place to offer them," she said. "If not how are we going to maintain our community?"