Ombudsman associations

The Québec Ombudsman’s involvement with the mediators of the French-speaking world

Since its inception, the Québec Ombudsman has contributed to developing the ombudsman concept in Canada and abroad. With the Médiateur de la République française, it founded the Association des ombudsmans et médiateurs de la Francophonie (AOMF) in 1997.

Raymonde Saint-Germain, Québec’s Ombudsperson, was President of the AOMF from 2013 to 2015.

The AOMF is a professional organization of the independent mediation institutions of the countries of La Francophonie. Its primary objective is the development of ombudsman and mediator institutions. Benefiting from the support of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the Association also promotes knowledge of the role of the ombudsman and the mediator to La Francophonie's member parliaments and governments.

Featured on the AOMF website is the Recueil de doctrine de l’ombudsman, a compendium designed to support the mission of ombudsmen and mediating institutions, contribute to their training and improve the quality of their work.

Convention of the members of the Association des ombudsmans et médiateurs de la Francophonie held in Québec City

The 9th convention of the Association des ombudsmans et médiateurs de la Francophonie (AOMF) was held at the Québec National Assembly from October 13 to 15, 2015. Under the theme L’Ombudsman/Médiateur : promoteur de la bonne gouvernance et gardien de l’intégrité de l’Administration (Ombudspersons: champions of good governance and custodians of government integrity), the event brought together participants from Africa, Europe and the Americas.

At the general assembly, AOMF members adopted the Québec Declaration (PDF, 315 KB, French version only), wich calls for strengthening and consolidation of mediation institutions as promoters of democratic values, the state of law and respect of human rights.

Ombudsman associations in Canada and abroad

The Québec Ombudsman is also an institutional member of the Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO), the United States Ombudsman Association (USOA), the International Ombudsman Institute (IIO) and the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman (FCO), at which Raymonde Saint-Germain gave a conference on May 13, 2015, entitled Ombuds Performance Appraisal: How do we respond to the need while avoiding the pitfalls? (PDF, 506 KB, French version only)

The Québec Ombudsman hosts, provides training for and conducts exchanges with representatives from other countries interested in the work methods used in Quebec.