The institution called the Protecteur du citoyen was created in 1968 under the Public Protector Act. The purpose of the Act was to create an institution mandated to receive, examine and handle complaints regarding Québec government departments and agencies. This is what the Protecteur du citoyen does.
The Protecteur du citoyen's powers
No. Syndics of professional orders (Barreau du Québec, Collège des Médecins, etc.) are responsible for examining complaints about their members. However, if you would like to find out more about recourse against a professional order, you can contact the Office des professions du Québec.
The Protecteur du citoyen cannot act concerning complaints against health professionals (physicians, medical residents, pharmacists, dentists).
If the health professional you want to complain about works for an institution (CISSS or CIUSSS):
- Go to the service quality and complaints commissioner. The complaint assistance and support centre (CAAP) in your region can help you.
- The commissioner forwards your complaint to the institution’s medical examiner.
- If you disagree with the medical examiner’s conclusions, you can complain to the institution’s review committee.
If the acts you questioned occurred in private practice, you have to go one of the following professional orders:
No. The Protecteur du citoyen cannot accept complaints about schools, whether they be public or private. Instead, you must contact the regional student ombudsman in your territory. The student ombudsman is responsible for handling complaints concerning, for example, inadequate behaviour by teaching staff or school principals or any situations involving bullying or violence.
To find out more, read our article Complaints in schools: new recourse for parents and students.
Yes. We handle complaints concerning the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail.
Note that the Protecteur du citoyen cannot have a court or tribunal decision modified or overturned:
- administrative tribunals (Tribunal administratif du Travail, Tribunal administratif du Québec, etc.);
- courts of justice (Municipal Courts, Court of Québec, Superior Court, etc.).
However, we can handle your complaint if it concerns the administrative functions of these bodies (service quality, wait times, etc.).
If you wish to file a complaint, use our online form available anytime. You can also call us at 1-800-463-5070 Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
No. The Protecteur du citoyen has no jurisdiction in that area. Your complaint must be made to the Police Ethics Commissioner instead.
No. The Protecteur du citoyen is not mandated to do so. To discuss the possibility of having legislation amended, contact your MNA.
No. The Protecteur du citoyen has no jurisdiction in that area. You must file a complaint with the ombudsman of the university in question.
Yes. We act throughout the province, even if our offices are located in Québec City and Montréal. No matter where you live in Québec, you can contact us. Call us at 1-800-463-5070 Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can only use our online complaint form.
No. The Protecteur du citoyen is not mandated to contest decisions by the Premier, ministers or any other elected official.
We cannot comment on government appointments, announcement of public subsidies or the outcome of negotiations.
As Québec’s ombudsman, we are impartial and independent. We act concerning the quality of public services (government departments and agencies, health and social services institutions). We make any required recommendations aimed at rectifying abuse, mistakes or failings (e.g. long wait times, misinformation or unwarranted administrative decisions).
The Protecteur du citoyen remains neutral and independent. When a complaint falls under our jurisdiction, we interview all the parties concerned (you and the entity involved). We examine the facts impartially and confidentially.
At the fact-examination and investigation phases, we have the powers of investigation commissioners. This means that we can require public services to provide us with access to the relevant documents and to answer our questions.
If the investigation shows that your complaint was substantiated, we make recommendations aimed at correcting the situation. Our recommendations are approved in more than 98% of cases. If on the other hand, the finding is that public services responded adequately, we tell you why.
As a rule, the Protecteur du citoyen handles complaints concerning the Directeur de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ) at the second level.
First you have to take your complaint to the service quality and complaints commissioner. The complaint assistance and support centre (CAAP) in your region can help you.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome (decision by the commissioner’s office, grounds, attitude, processing time), you can then contact us.
Please note: The Protecteur du citoyen cannot challenge a DPJ decision or have a social worker’s or another professional’s assessment report changed (e.g. a decision about the assessment of a report or any measure to help a young person and their family).
However, it can look into whether the administrative rules specific to DPJ operations were applied correctly for the case submitted to it. For example, did the caseworker check the facts thoroughly and gather all the information on the child’s situation? There is a procedure for this. Was it followed? Did the DPJ comply with court orders about child access or other issues? When relevant, the Protecteur du citoyen recommends that the DPJ make the required changes.
If the DPJ and the parents of a child disagree (about the child being removed from the family environment, for example), the Chambre de la jeunesse can hear the case and its decision is then applied by the DPJ.
Here again, the Protecteur du citoyen cannot act to have the decision overturned, but it can act concerning the DPJ’s compliance with rules and practices.
No. The Protecteur du citoyen cannot act to have a decision by a tribunal amended or overturned. That is why it is very important for you contact the Protecteur du citoyen BEFORE going to the administrative tribunals and agencies listed below:
- Commission d’accès à l’information;
- Conseil de la magistrature;
- Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales;
- Tribunal administratif du logement;
- Tribunal administratif du Québec;
- Tribunal administratif du travail.
However, we have the authority to handle complaints about the administrative functions (service quality, wait times, etc.) of these tribunals. For any questions on this subject, feel free to contact us.
