Concordia to Close Daycare
The Loss Will Leave Concordia Community with Only One Daycare Downtown
The centre de la petite enfance Concordia, one of the only government-subsidized childcare services on the Sir George Williams campus, will be shut down in July 2023.
Maria Ottoni, the director of CPE Concordia, left a notice on the centre’s door. It read in part that the announcement is “not only shocking, but a major concern for everyone involved.” No one from the centre was available when The Link asked for comment via email, phone or an in-person visit.
The announcement of the closure was made during the centre’s Annual General Assembly on Nov. 10. Concordia University informed the CPE’s Board of Directors that the reason behind the closure was due to “major renovations in an adjacent building” starting in April 2023. Their lease ends in July 2023 and will not be renewed, Ottoni wrote on the notice.
The non-profit childcare centre gives priority to members of the Concordia community, including students, staff and faculty. The CPE was founded in 1981 and has space for 80 children between 18 months old and five years old, according to its website.
According to the government of Quebec’s minister of families, CPEs generally receive funding, allowing them to subsidize the spots. The daycare lists the government of Quebec as a partner.
There are only two other options now available throughout the university. The first is a CPE on the Loyola campus, which states they only have 12-14 spaces available each year. The second is the Daycare and Nursery operated by the Concordia Student Union, which opened in January 2019, but it is not subsidized by the government and only has 52 spots for children aged three months to five years.
As of Friday, the daycare was still listed on the provincial list of daycares available to parents. According to the centre’s LinkedIn page, the downtown CPE employs between 11 and 50 people. It is unclear whether or not a new daycare location will be opening or if the Concordia community will lose one of the few subsidized child care options available near campus.
Multiple parents have informed The Link of their situations’ precariousness in relation to the daycare shutting down. This is a developing story.
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