Toronto, April 2, 2025 – In March, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) was granted leave to intervene in Kanyinda v. Quebec (Attorney General), a case about access to subsidized daycare for refugee claimants.
Ms. Kanyinda, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, entered Quebec with her three young children via Roxham Road in October 2018. She made a refugee claim once arriving and obtained a work permit while her claim was being processed. She sought subsidized daycare but was denied, because s. 3 of the Reduced Contribution Regulation (Regulation) excludes refugee claimants from eligibility for subsidized daycare.
Ms. Kanyinda challenged this exclusion as indirect discrimination based on sex—since the regulation disproportionately impacts refugee claimant women—and as direct discrimination based on immigration status and citizenship. While the trial judge dismissed her Charter claims, the Quebec Court of Appeal found that the regulation discriminated on the basis of sex, though it declined to consider her immigration status or citizenship claims. Quebec is now appealing this finding of discrimination.
LEAF will be intervening to argue that a robust intersectional analysis at both stages of the s. 15 test is necessary to realize the promise of substantive equality guaranteed under s. 15. LEAF will also argue that when governments enact legislation to remedy inequality, they still have a constitutional obligation to ensure that such legislation does not leave behind the most marginalized among its targeted population.
“Having access to affordable childcare is critical for women’s economic security. It reduces barriers to accessing paid work and helps ensure women’s options aren’t limited to taking on part-time and precarious work to meet the demands of caregiving,” says Pam Hrick, Executive Director and General Counsel of LEAF. “This need is even more pronounced for migrant women, who are at once more likely to experience poverty and less likely to have a social network to support them.”
LEAF is grateful to be represented pro bono by Olga Redko and Vanessa Ntaganda (IMK LLP) in this case.
LEAF’s interventions are guided, informed, and supported by a case committee with expertise in the relevant issues. We are grateful to this intervention’s case committee members (in alphabetical order): Grace Ajele, Jennifer Koshan, and Colleen Sheppard.
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About the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national not-for-profit and charity that works to advance the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation, law reform, and public legal education. Since 1985, LEAF has been involved in over 145 cases that have helped shape the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To find out more, visit www.leaf.ca.
