Supreme Court rules Quebec asylum seekers eligible for subsidized daycare

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled Quebec cannot bar asylum seekers from subsidized daycare.

In an 8-1 ruling handed down Friday, the Supreme Court rejected the province's appeal of a lower court's ruling.

Supreme Court Justice Andromache Karakatsanis concluded the province's regulations on subsidized daycare, which date back to the previous Couillard government, discriminate against women refugee claimants and infringes on their Charter rights.

"While all refugee claimants are denied access to subsidized daycare ... the discriminatory impact on women is unique because they carry a greater share of child-care responsibilities," the ruling states.

It goes on to say barring refugee claimants from accessing the daycares not only impedes their ability to work, but further marginalizes them from Quebec society.

This also has a cost on the province, the Supreme Court argues, as it forces many to rely on social assistance instead.

The Supreme Court ruling goes even further than a previous Quebec Court of Appeal decision that had suggested Quebec should grant access to all asylum seekers with a work permit.

Canada's highest court says all refugee claimants who are parents should have access to the subsidized daycare system — work permit or not.

Quebec's sought-after subsidized daycare system has aimed to keep child care affordable in the province for years. In 2026, the daily cost of a subsidized daycare is $9.65.

The case before the courts originated with Bijou Cibuabua Kanyinda, a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo who applied for asylum and obtained a work permit. Her three children were denied access to the heavily subsidized daycare network because Quebec's rules provided access to the system only once refugee status was granted by the federal government.

The Quebec government had challenged two previous court rulings, arguing the province's daycare system does not have the capacity to accommodate so many asylum seekers as there are already lengthy waitlists to get in.

It argued the service should be reserved for those with a deeper connection to the province.

But the Supreme Court rules that while there may be a pressing need to limit daycare services to those with a "sufficient" link to Quebec, the province failed to prove how barring access to asylum seekers achieves that.

"There is no rational connection between that goal and excluding refugee claimants when the subsidy is extended to others," the ruling says, pointing out foreign students have access to subsidized daycares, for instance.