Auditor General releases 2020-21 action plan and report

Earlier this month Quebec’s Auditor General, Guylaine Leclerc, released the October 2020 report at the National Assembly. The report included discussions about the accessibility of early childhood educational childcare services, access to health care and social services, and affordable housing in Quebec.
The report stated that the ministry of family is not meeting commitments made to the development and supervision of the early childhood education and care network in terms of ensuring accessibility. The lack of commitment from the ministry has led to an insufficient supply of subsidized spaces to meet the needs of Quebec families. The report included that low-income families are under-represented in early childhood education centers in Laval and Montreal, and that the long lists of families waiting for seats in these centers shows goals are not being met to create more subsidized spaces.
Additionally, the report criticized ‘La Place 0-5’, the online program where families can apply and access childcare in Quebec, stating that the program does not allow for effective management of access to services. Leclerc added that some childcare centers are not meeting legal obligations, such as exclusively filling spaces in their programs with applications from La Place 0-5.
In terms of access to health care and social services, the Auditor General’s report said that the indicators presented by the minister of health and social services do not provide an adequate assessment of access to health care and social services in the province. While there was a plan to implement a system that would provide information, such as the average wait time to get an appointment with a family doctor, the Auditor General claims that, due to practitioners not adhering to the system, there are roadblocks to receiving the information. The Auditor General’s report suggested the minister of health and social services does not have significant data to evaluate the effectiveness of incentive measures.

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