Opens in a new tab

What do the committees do?

Committees are present in all health and social services facilities, as required by law. They are therefore found throughout Quebec, whether in physical or mental health care, in rehabilitation (physical impairment, intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, addiction), in child and youth protection centres, or in hospitals, including CLSCs. In-patients committees work in residential and long-term care centres and report to a users committee.

Users and in-patients committees are autonomous committees of the facility. They are legal entities, but they do not have a legal personality. Here are their different roles.

  • Defending users’ rights

    Users and in-patients committees are the guardians of users’ rights. As such, they must ensure that users are treated with respect for their dignity and in recognition of their rights, act as spokespersons for users and residents in dealings with the facility’s governing bodies, show particular concern for the most vulnerable user groups, and promote the improvement of residents’ living conditions.

  • Continuous improvement in service quality

    The committees actively contribute to the continuous improvement of service quality. They do this by listening to users’ and residents’ comments and by conducting surveys on their satisfaction with the care and services received. They report their observations to the facility’s governing bodies and follow up on them.

  • Legal functions of users committees

    1. Inform users of their rights and responsibilities.
    2. Promote improvement in the quality of users’ living conditions and assess the degree of user satisfaction with the services provided by the facility.
    3. Defend the collective rights and interests of users or, at a user’s request, the user’s rights and interests with the facility or any other competent authority.
    4. On request, accompany and assist users in any action they take, including when they wish to file a complaint.
    5. Where applicable, ensure that each in-patients committee operates smoothly and has the resources it needs to carry out its duties.
    6. Where applicable, evaluate the effectiveness of the measure implemented under the provisions of section 209.0.1 (LSSSS).

  • Legal functions of in-patients committees

    1. Inform users of their rights and responsibilities.
    2. Promote improvement in the quality of users’ living conditions and assess the degree of user satisfaction with the services provided by the facility.
    3. Defend the collective rights and interests of users or, at a user’s request, the user’s rights and interests with the facility or any other competent authority.

  • Composition of users and in-patients committees

    The members of users committees are elected by the users of their facility. The members of in-patients committees are elected by the residents of their residential centre. A users or in-patients committee is made up of volunteers elected for a 3-year term by and from among users (or their representatives) who receive services in a given territory or services specific to a particular clientele. The facility appoints a contact person who liaises with the committees and the various departments.

  • The legal framework

    Unlike community organizations and recreational organizations, which determine their own mission, users and in-patients committees have specific functions that are defined by law. The mandate and functions of users and in-patients committees are governed by sections 209 to 212 of the Act respecting health services and social services (LSSSS). In addition, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux has published Terms of Reference for Users Committees and In-patients Committees, which provides a framework for the committees’ actions.

  • Integrated centre users committees (CUCI)

    Bill 10, passed in 2015, changed the organization of the health and social services network by merging facilities, which led to the creation of integrated (university) health and social services centres, known by the acronyms CISSS (CIUSSS). Users committees were not merged and remained in operation, hence the singular term “continued users committee” (comité des usagers continué).

    This law also required the creation of a users committee within each CISSS or CIUSSS, known as the integrated centre users committee (CUCI). It is made up of one representative of the continued users committees, appointed by the committee presidents, and of representatives appointed by all the in-patients committees of the integrated centre.

    Generally speaking, in a given region, the CUCI harmonizes the work of all the users committees in its territory, which in turn oversee the in-patients committees of the residential centres in their area or territory.

    A CUCI representative sits on the Board of Directors of the CISSS or CIUSSS.

More information