On September 12, 2025, Ombudsperson Marc-André Dowd sent a letter to the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, in which he commented on the draft Regulation respecting the terms governing the use of monitoring mechanisms by certain users.
In residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs), residents or their representatives may wish to use monitoring mechanisms. A regulation has governed this practice since 2018.
The new draft regulation calls for the inclusion of certain rehabilitation centres in the list of places where these rules are to be applied. However, the draft regulation does not specify that the people concerned are residents and their representatives. According to the Protecteur du citoyen, specifying that the draft regulation concerns residents is crucial. A recommendation was made in this regard.
Mr. Dowd also points out that the rehabilitation centres in question house individuals with special needs. These individuals may have behavioural problems or sometimes experience episodes of crisis. Mr. Dowd stresses that monitoring mechanisms and their implementation must not pose a risk to the safety of these users or anyone else. The Protecteur du citoyen made a recommendation to this effect.
