Quebec cracks down on extra fees at daycare centres

The Quebec government is cracking down on subsidized daycare centres that charge parents extra fees for enhanced services such as meals andactivities.

As of next April, all subsidized daycare centres will have to sign a standard contract with parents so that they'll know exactly how much they have to pay.

Quebec's family minister Michelle Courchesne said that will help her department control the situation.

Thousands of centres in Quebec are subsidized to the tune of $33 a day per child.

Quebec amended its daycare law last year to make fees in private, subsidized daycare centres the same as those in publicly run centres $7 a day.

But some parents find they are under pressure to pay extra fees.

One parent, Jose Leger said she was told that it would cost $11 a day to place her child in a subsidized daycare centre if she were leaving the child there after 4:30 p.m., because that's when dance classes were offered to some older children.

The government said it is dealing with more than 140 complaints from parents who are being asked for extra fees.

Last week alone, the government said, it suspended subsidies to five daycare centres for illegal billing.

Not all parents will be happy with this development.

Last December, a group of Quebec parents urged the government to grant them the right to pay more than $7 a day for subsidized daycare.

Theywant the right to pay for extra services and activities.