The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday against the province’s request to deny asylum seekers subsidized child care as they wait for their case to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The judgment arose after the Quebec government requested that the court suspend its February 7th decision, which proclaimed that Section 3 of the Education Childcare Act perpetuates disadvantages suffered by female asylum workers in the workforce because of the distinctions for immigration applicants regarding subsidized childcare. The February decision further claimed that the exceptions were discriminatory.

The government asked the court of appeal to suspend its decision because of the sudden increase in children creating too high a demand on the regime. While Justice Lori Renée Weitzman acknowledged that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure childcare demands are met, Weitzman ultimately ruled that the additional six thousand children from asylum seekers were unlikely to add a catastrophic demand on services.

The Quebec government’s decision to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada has been met with criticism. Quebec Premier Francois Legault has continued to defend the decision, saying it is a “question of being able or not to offer services to the population.” This decision comes as Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been meeting to discuss the “worrying” number of asylum seekers in Quebec, according to Legault.