University of Ottawa Moves to Eliminate on-Campus Childcare.
For 37 years, the Bernadette Childcare Centre has been a cornerstone of the uOttawa community. It provides affordable, Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC)-supported childcare to students, staff, and faculty families and is one of the few fully bilingual childcare centres on a Canadian university campus. Its French- and English-language programming is a tangible expression of uOttawa’s francophone and bilingual mandate – an institutional value the President herself has described as central to what makes the university “rich” and its community “vibrant.”
This important contribution to the University of Ottawa and surrounding community will soon come to an end, as the University is forcing the Bernadette Childcare Centre to vacate its campus space in the soon-to-be demolished Brooks building by May 31.
Why the Closure of the Bernadette Childcare Centre Matters
This decision places the future of on-campus childcare in immediate jeopardy and demonstrates a profound disregard for the students, faculty, and staff who rely on this essential service. The closure of the Centre will directly affect 49 children and their families, many of whom depend on accessible, on-campus childcare in order to study, teach, conduct research, and work at the University of Ottawa.
Families currently pay $478.50 per month at Bernadette. Without these spaces, parents will be forced into an off-campus childcare market where costs range from $1,200 to $1,600 per month. For students, faculty, and staff – particularly those in contractual or early-career positions – this increase is financially devastating. The University’s decision creates immediate barriers to student retention, staff recruitment, and workplace equity, while disproportionately harming caregivers and francophone families.
In addition, this decision stands in direct contradiction to public commitments made by the University’s new President and Vice-Chancellor, Marie-Eve Sylvestre, who has repeatedly emphasized that universities must be socially engaged institutions rooted in the needs of their communities — not “ivory towers” detached from the people they serve.
Other U15 universities recognize on-campus childcare as essential infrastructure. As a result of this decision, uOttawa will stand alone among U15 universities as the only institution without on-campus childcare. This marks a profound institutional failure and a clear abandoning of the people who make the university function.
What Happens Next
Despite extensive efforts, no alternative space has been secured. The Centre has exhausted every reasonable avenue to remain operational: exploring multiple sites in Sandy Hill; engaging with the City, local schools, churches, advocacy organizations, and provincial and federal representatives; and hiring a consultant at its own expense. No suitable, affordable location capable of supporting a licensed, bilingual childcare program has been identified. The situation remains uncertain, and the consequences for families and workers are severe.
What We’re Doing
APTPUO stands in solidarity with the families and workers harmed by this decision and with other unions and student associations in the Interunion Coalition of the University of Ottawa in condemning this decision. We reject any attempt to frame this outcome as inevitable or temporary. This crisis is the direct result of choices made under the current administration.
We call on the University of Ottawa to immediately reverse course and pursue all feasible interim solutions to ensure accessible, affordable, bilingual childcare remains available to the campus community. In addition, we believe that 49 childcare spaces is insufficient to meet the needs of the University community; as such we call on the University of Ottawa to not only find a suitable space for the Bernadette Childcare Centre but also to find a space that will allow for the growth of the Centre.