While the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, claims that he must “close” 4-year-old kindergarten classes due to the growing need for francisation, the school service centres (CSS) assure that this is not the case.
In Montreal, Laval, Quebec, Lanaudière, Centre-du-Québec, the Laurentians and Montérégie: everywhere, the CSS have declared to the Duty that they had not closed any 4-year-old nursery groups to make way for French language classes.
For several months, Minister Drainville has been pointing the finger at the arrival of temporary immigrants to explain the delays in opening 4-year-old kindergarten classes. “When you are forced to close 4-year-old kindergartens to open French-language classes, that is not normal,” he said again on August 16, when he was taking stock of the staff shortage in the school system.
The elected official then said he was “very proud” to see that the Quebec network was able to “welcome such an increase in immigrants.” He nevertheless renewed his call to the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to “regain control of the borders and the immigration process.”
The Drainville firm states that nearly 80% of the increase in school clientele observed last year is attributable to students who were born outside Canada. It points out that there were 1,341 francization classes in March 2024, an increase compared to 1,005 a year earlier. However, from there to linking the increase in immigration to the closure of 4-year-old kindergarten classes, there is a step that the CSS are not prepared to take.
No closed class
“We confirm that no 4-year-old kindergarten class opened in 2023-2024 is closed to make way for a reception class,” confirmed the CSS of Montreal, for example. The observation is the same in Laval, and in the ten CSS that responded to the request of the Duty.
The CSS des Mille-Îles, in the Laurentians, said it has not closed any classes. “In fact, at the CSSMI, we have more 4-year-old kindergarteners this year than last year,” said communications advisor Mélanie Poirier.
The CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys said it has “39 4-year-old kindergarten classes, the same number as last year.” This CSS is located in Saint-Laurent, the Montreal borough with the highest proportion of immigrants.
In Quebec City, the CSS de la Capitale has indeed reduced the number of 4-year-old kindergarten classes: they will go from 47 last year to 42 this year. “The classes were not closed specifically to open francisation classes, but to open regular classes due to the increase in the number of students. One class was also closed due to a lack of registrations in the sector,” said spokesperson Jade Thibodeau.
The CSS des Samares, in Lanaudière, has two fewer 4-year-old kindergarten classes than last year. “There is no connection with the francization classes. The reasons are rather an insufficient number of registrations or the lack of space in the environments,” justified Hélène Duchaine, from the communications department. The CSS Marie-Victorin, in Longueuil, assured that it had not closed 4-year-old kindergarten classes because of the need for francization and that it had not, either, slowed down the opening of groups for this reason.
A series of reasons, according to the ministry
To assess the extent of the situation described by Minister Drainville, The Duty asked the Ministry of Education to provide it with the locations and number of classes closed due to the demand for francisation.
Its representatives did not provide figures in their response. However, they stated that “there are several reasons why a class may not open or close.” Among them: the shortage of labor and “the growing number of students from immigrant backgrounds, to whom school services must be offered compulsorily if they are aged 5 to 16.” In some cases, premises “intended for 4-year-old kindergartens are used as a priority for compulsory schooling” from the age of five, illustrated spokesperson Bryan St-Louis.
Minister Drainville’s office, for its part, followed up on a resolution adopted last April by the board of directors of the CSS des Chênes in Drummondville. The board decided to stop opening 4-year-old kindergarten groups in 2024-2025 for four reasons: “the massive arrival of immigrants,” “major space” problems, the increase in residential complexes and the decrease in the number of students per level due to the increase in the deprivation index. Director of Communications Normand Page told the Duty that the CSS had “not closed 4-year-old preschool classes to open French-language classes”.
1700 more classes this year
Bernard Drainville’s press attaché, Antoine de la Durantaye, stated that the minister bases his statements on the projections he received last spring. “We will know the real picture in the fall,” he announced.
The firm predicts that 1,700 4-year-old kindergarten classes will be in operation in 2024-2025, up from 1,660 classes recorded last year. « “It’s more than the number of classes last year, but it’s less than we would have liked. There are CSSs that have to close, but there are also several others that can’t open any more,” explained Mr. de la Durantaye.
He added that the CSSs cited the lack of space, the shortage of manpower and “the increase in the number of students mainly from immigrant backgrounds” to explain this situation. “These are the three main reasons that the minister has always named to explain the slowdown in the deployment of 4-year-old kindergarten classes,” he said.
In 2018, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) committed to opening 5,000 4-year-old kindergarten classes by 2023-2024. Once in power, François Legault’s party instead committed to delivering 2,600 classes by 2025-2026. This promise was revised once again in February 2023, when the goal of 2,600 classes was pushed back to a possible third CAQ mandate in 2029-2030.
