Supporting Work-Family Balance in Parliaments: The Assemblée nationale du Québec opens drop-in daycare

This blog looks at the opening of a drop-in daycare facility in the Assemblée nationale du Québec, and how this has helped to promote a more inclusive legislature.

This blog article was written by Anik Laplante, Director, Associate General Secretariat for Administration, Living together and Harassment Prevention in Québec.

Article posted on 18/03/2025

Since September 2023, the Assemblée nationale du Québec has been home to a drop-in daycare called ‘Le conseil des petits trésors’ (The Little Treasures Board). For several Parliamentarians, ‘the dream has become a reality’ with this major step forward in harmonising work and family in politics. 

The President of the Assemblée nationale, Hon. Nathalie Roy, MNA, said:  

"I’m proud of the work that went into completing this project […]. A lot of people had been wanting to set up a drop-in daycare at the Parliament. Now it’s done! We’ve taken one more step towards work-family balance.”

This service is available to Parliamentarians, political staff, administrative staff, Ministers’ office staff, the Lieutenant-Governor’s staff and the members of the Press Gallery, who can all reserve a place for their child through an online registration platform. The daycare can accommodate up to ten children aged 0 to 10 and was designed especially for this clientele. 

Thanks to a partnership with an already existing community drop-in daycare, two qualified educators are on-site during office hours. These educators handle day-to-day management and provide thematic educational activities during the school holidays. 

The fees are in line with those of our partner and are comparable to those of other non-subsidised daycare services in Québec (i.e., CAD$20 per half-day, CAD$35 per full day and CAD$10 per evening). Snacks are included for free, and meals are available for an additional fee. 

Also of note, the daycare’s office hours are adapted to the parliamentary work schedule, which differs from the standard workplace. The daycare’s regular open hours are 7am to 6:30pm Monday to Thursday and 7am to 5pm on Friday. In addition, parents can request that closing time be as late as 11pm when the Assembly is in session in the evening. 

This initiative was made possible thanks to the adoption of a 2022 amendment to the Educational Childcare Act that authorised occasional daycare at a place where a deliberative assembly is held.  

Initially developed as a pilot project covering two parliamentary sessional periods, the daycare became a permanent service in June 2024. A very positive report presented to the Bureau de l’Assemblée nationale, confirming the need for this service and highlighting the significant impact on parents, motivated the decision to make the project permanent. 

In Québec, a combination of measures facilitates the balance between family life and professional life: an affordable and quality daycare service network, a generous parental leave plan, social support programmes and several other public policies and laws that support parents. 

Above: Photos of The Assemblée nationale du Québec's drop-in daycare facility.

The Assembly has been making its own contribution by deploying several family services in recent years. For example, a family room, meals to go, breastfeeding rooms and changing tables have been made available in the Parliament buildings. In addition, various amendments have been made to the Standing Orders to adjust parliamentary work hours and to confirm that persons absent for reasons related to parenthood (i.e., pregnancy, birth and adoption) are no longer considered to be failing to maintain a good attendance record. 

These initiatives, like the daycare, are the result of consultations carried out in 2019 among Parliamentarians and political staff to find the best ways to meet their needs with respect to work-family-personal life balance. The Assembly intends to pursue its efforts, and other family services can be expected in the coming years. 

For the President of the Assemblée nationale, the daycare is "especially important for enabling more young people and women to be involved in politics”. In Québec, the number of female Parliamentarians continues to grow; in the last general election, in 2022, women represented 46.4% of the Members elected to the Assemblée nationale. 

Balancing work and personal life remains difficult for Parliamentarians because their work requires long hours, a lot of travel and an irregular schedule that runs into the evenings and weekends. However, through initiatives like the daycare, the Assembly is striving to position itself as a Parliament where work-family balance is a core value. 

As Hon. Nathalie Roy has stated:

“The Assemblée nationale du Québec is changing and looking towards the future. The opening of this drop-in daycare is a good example of this progress for Parliamentarians, political staff and administrative staff. Combined with other measures, this project is a concrete example of initiatives focused on balance and well-being to meet the needs of different generations and facilitate work-family balance.” 

For more information about the Assemblée nationale du Québec and CPA Québec Branch please click here.

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