The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that asylum seekers in Quebec cannot be excluded from the province’s subsidized daycare system while their refugee claims are being processed, concluding the restriction violated equality protections under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The decision stems from a case involving Bijou Cibuabua Kanyinda, a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo who entered Canada in October 2018 with her three young children through the Roxham Road irregular border crossing between New York State and Quebec. The unofficial crossing became a major entry point for asylum seekers travelling from the United States into Canada.

Kanyinda crossed the border around Oct. 9, 2018, and filed a claim for refugee protection immediately after arriving in Canada under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. While her case was being reviewed, she obtained a work permit allowing her to work legally while waiting for a decision on her claim.

Her refugee application was not approved until January 2021, a process that took more than two years.

During that period she attempted to register her children in Quebec’s subsidized daycare network, which offers spaces at a heavily reduced daily cost funded through provincial tax revenue. Her application was refused because a provincial regulation adopted in 2018 limited eligibility to people who had already been granted refugee status, excluding asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their claims.

Kanyinda challenged the rule in court.

The Quebec Superior Court ruled in 2022 that the province did not have the authority to impose the restriction. The Quebec Court of Appeal later upheld the outcome, concluding the regulation had discriminatory effects because it disproportionately affected women with young children who could face barriers to employment without access to affordable childcare.

Quebec appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing the province has the authority to determine eligibility for programs financed through provincial revenues, including the daycare system.

Quebec’s subsidized childcare network, one of the largest publicly funded programs of its kind in North America, offers daycare spaces at a rate of roughly $9 per day, with the majority of operating costs covered by provincial taxpayers. The province previously warned that expanding eligibility could increase pressure on a system that already faces shortages of available spaces and growing operational costs.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that asylum seekers cannot be excluded from the program while they are legally present in Canada and waiting for refugee decisions. Refugee claimants often remain in Canada for extended periods while their cases are assessed by federal immigration authorities.

The case also drew attention to the role of Roxham Road, the unofficial border crossing where Kanyinda entered Canada. For several years the rural road became a primary route for asylum seekers entering Quebec between official ports of entry.

The crossing was permanently closed on March 25, 2023, after Canada and the United States expanded the Safe Third Country Agreement to apply across the entire land border. Under the revised agreement, people who cross the border irregularly between official crossings can be returned to the United States.

Processing buildings at the Roxham Road site were dismantled and demolished in 2023 and early 2024, and signage now warns that individuals attempting to cross there will be arrested and sent back to the United States.