Inside Québec’s Mental Health Model

From December 8 to 13, 2025, a French delegation accompanied by Dialog Health traveled to Montreal for a study tour organized in partnership with FEHAP (French Federation of Private Non-Profit Healthcare and Social Services), focusing on Québec’s mental health issues and perspectives.

This mission aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the organization of the Québec mental health system, identify innovative practices, and explore the complementarity between public policies, specialized care, research, and community-based action.

As part of this study mission in Montreal, 10 professionals from the French healthcare sector met with key mental health stakeholders and visited emblematic institutions, illustrating the diversity, structure, and maturity of the Québec model.

The week began with an institutional meeting at the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec (MSSS) (central authority responsible for health and social services policy, planning, and regulation). This initial session provided an overarching framework of the Québec health and social services system, its integrated governance model, recent reforms, and major strategic orientations in mental health.

The delegation then visited the Rivière-des-Prairies Mental Health Hospital, affiliated with the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (one of Québec’s integrated health and social services centers). This hospital is a provincial reference center in child and adolescent psychiatry. Discussions focused on expertise in autism and psychiatric comorbidities, Québec’s only pediatric psychiatric intensive care unit, the organization of a secondary psychiatric emergency department supporting multiple primary emergency services, and the deployment of the EPIC electronic health record (province-wide digital health infrastructure).

On Wednesday, the delegation took part in an immersive full-day visit at the Montreal University Institute of Mental Health (IUSMM), within the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (major academic and clinical hub in adult mental health). Participants explored topics including territorial organization of care, alternatives to hospitalization, community psychiatry, family peer support, digital mental health, and emerging therapies. The visit to the Avatar Therapy Unit highlighted the clinical use of immersive technologies for treating psychosis and auditory hallucinations.

On Thursday, the mission continued with a visit to the Philippe-Pinel National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry (Québec’s leading institution in forensic mental health), specializing in secure care, court-mandated assessments, risk evaluation, and applied research.

In the afternoon, the delegation visited the Douglas Mental Health Institute (a McGill University–affiliated center and major research institution), where several structuring programs were presented: Brief Intensive Home Treatment (BIHT), psychiatric emergency services, intensive care units, the C3 Command Center (real-time clinical and operational coordination), and the central role of clinical and translational research in driving organizational and therapeutic innovation.

The mission concluded with visits to two major community-based organizations.

La Maison l’Échelon (supported housing and supervised living provider) presented its recovery-oriented housing model for people living with mental health disorders, rooted in the deinstitutionalization movement and based on close coordination between housing, intensive support, and psychosocial rehabilitation.

The delegation also visited Le Mûrier (Montreal-based charitable organization), which offers an integrated range of services including supported residential programs, food security initiatives, and employment trial placements, all aimed at recovery and social inclusion.

This study tour enabled participants to compare different models of mental health organization and support, enriching their reflections on Québec’s approaches in this field. It highlights the strength of the Québec model in integrating public governance, specialized care, clinical innovation, research, and community action, while placing recovery, continuity of care pathways, and respect for individual dignity at the core of professional practice.