A 2005 CBC News article reported that child care in Quebec, Canada, is suffering from a "crisis of popularity." There are waiting lists that are 900 names long and not enough day care facilities to accommodate all children. Opening your own day care center in Quebec can therefore be a profitable business. Before starting your operation, however, you will have to meet various rules, requirements and regulations.

Contact the Ministère de la Famille et l'Enfance (MFE) in your region of Quebec. Not only will they assist you during the licensing process, they'll also provide you with licensing, general and inspection information, and forms. The Quebec Portal website provides a search function you can use to find the office nearest you. You can find this search function in the resources section of this page. If you meet all requirements, this office will issue your license to operate your day care service.

Meet the Quebec licensing requirements. To run a day care service you have to have three years of work in the field of early child education. You will be responsible for hiring, screening, supervising and monitoring qualified providers.

Conduct a criminal background check. One of the license requirements is that the background check comes back favorably.

Childproof the day care facility and make sure it is in compliance with regulations set forth by MFE. It has to meet health, safety and building requirements and codes.

Hire a qualified staff. Two-thirds of your staff must have college or university degrees in early childhood education. Every member of your staff will also have to undergo a criminal background check. Knowledge of first aid and CPR is also required. When hiring teachers and teacher aides you will have to keep in mind the teacher-to-child ratios set forth by the MFE.

Consent to regulatory inspections, and always run your operation in full compliance because inspections can happen without any notice. While running your day care center, your staff and facility will be visited by a qualified inspector to assure you meet all requirements and demands. If something is out of compliance, you will be given sufficient time to correct this. Another inspection will take place after the correction to make sure the center is operating in full compliance.