Is there a deadline for filing a complaint with the Protecteur du citoyen?

Yes. If your complaint concerns a Government of Québec department or agency, you generally have one year to file a complaint.

For a complaint regarding the health and social services network, the Protecteur du citoyen acts as a second level of recourse. First you must contact the service quality and complaints commissioner of the institution concerned. Have you not heard back from the commissioner or are you dissatisfied with their answer? You have two years to contact us.

After these timeframes have elapsed, we can examine your complaint anyway if you can show that there were exceptional circumstances or it was impossible for you to act sooner (for example, an unforeseeable situation, a medical reason or hospitalization).