On June 5, 2026, the Protecteur du citoyen sent a letter to the President and Chief Executive Officer of Santé Québec, in which it expressed its concerns regarding the draft Regulation respecting the operation of private seniors’ residences.
The draft regulation aims to replace the current Regulation respecting the certification of private seniors’ residences and proposes to ease the framework governing such residences.
The Protecteur du citoyen begins by emphasizing that people living in PSRs have the same rights as other citizens. Some of them are more vulnerable due to age-related loss of autonomy. They depend on residence staff for the daily services they need for their health, well-being and safety.
The draft regulation seeks to revise and ease standards to address the constraints faced by PSR operators. As currently drafted, it relaxes some requirements relating to staff training, safety, supervision and information to residents. However, these key issues are regularly the subject of complaints and reports submitted to the Protecteur du citoyen.
The Protecteur du citoyen is particularly concerned about the minimum skills required by staff, given the needs of some residents such as those with cognitive disorders. The quality of services provided may be affected. Measures to promote well-caring, that were included in previous versions of the regulation, have been scaled back in the proposed draft.
In view of the potential consequences of these changes on the quality, safety and continuity of services provided to residents, the Protecteur du citoyen makes 13 recommendations. These mainly relate to:
- Respect for residents’ rights;
- Safety and supervision;
- Staff training;
- Collaboration between Santé Québec institutions and PSRs.
Learn more about this Protecteur du citoyen intervention:
- Letter concerning the draft Regulation respecting the operation of private seniors’ residences (in French only, PDF, 3.2 MB)
