Québec City, October 2, 2025 – The Ombudsperson, Marc-André Dowd, tabled the 2024-2025 Annual Report of the Protecteur du citoyen today at the National Assembly. While technological advances in government authorities are increasing the forms of communication with their different clienteles, Marc-André Dowd insists upon the importance of listening to citizens attentively and empathetically.
“Listening to citizens means demonstrating availability and sensitivity to what they are experiencing. This requires a willingness to adjust organizational practices in order to meet citizens' expressed needs and to simplify the administrative process for service recipients. Our investigations show that this listening often fails,” Marc-André Dowd declared.
- An impoverished citizen is the victim of a fire and claims financial assistance from the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS). On certain conditions, the MESS may grant special assistance on presentation of bills. However, the citizen does not have the money to advance the cost of the purchases and produce the required bills. She informs the MESS, whom do not want to make an exception to the rule. The investigation by the Protecteur du citoyen revealed that the MESS’ guidelines permit them to pay a merchant directly on the presentation of a quote.
- A person with a hearing disability visits a Services Québec office to request last-resort financial assistance from the MESS. As she made a mistake on one of her forms, an officer tried to reach her twice by phone, regardless that the citizen informed them of the hearing disability. This was obviously not the appropriate means to contact the citizen. The officer ended up refusing to grant the assistance. Soon, the woman could no longer meet her family’s needs. After several reminders to Services Québec, the Protecteur du citoyen regularized her situation.
In the current budget context, the Ombudsperson urges the government authorities to maintain respect for citizens’ rights at the core of each decision. Thus, planning of the measures that result from budget restrictions must be guided by citizens’ rights to quality services within a reasonable time. Despite the current context, public services have the obligation to be sensitive to exceptional circumstances and always respect people’s dignity.
“Any budget reduction must be communicated clearly, with a concern for transparency. The public has a right to know the expected consequences of budget reductions for delivery of services, such as an increase in delays,” Marc-André Dowd declared.
An increased presence in correctional facilities
Last year, the Protecteur du citoyen strengthened its presence in correctional facilities. In all, it made 14 inspection visits and held 3 discussion meetings.
In particular, it found that a deeper assessment of an inmate’s suicide risk sometimes takes longer than the specified time due to a shortage of staff available to proceed with this assessment. In the meantime, the person is placed in isolation in a cell, sometimes 22 hours out of 24. Isolation is often extended unacceptably for several weeks.
“I insist on the importance of listening to citizens at all times, whether they are found in correctional facilities or whether, more broadly, they are users of public services, users of the health network or vulnerable persons.
For public bodies, listening means being sensitive to the realities experienced and adapting practices.” the Ombudsperson concluded.
Record number of requests, complaints and reports
The Protecteur du citoyen this year processed a record number of 28,210 grounds for requests, compared to 24,867 in 2023-2024.
The Ombudsperson must mention that the acceptance rate of the Protecteur du citoyen’s recommendations by public services – nearly 98% – is evidence of the willingness of these services to provide concrete solutions to the deficiencies raised by the investigations concerning them.
Let us remember that the Protecteur du citoyen impartially and independently ensures that people’s rights are respected in their dealings with public services. Its services are free and easy to access.
For all information on the 2024-2025 Annual Report of the Protecteur du citoyen, go to the Annual Reports section of our website.
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Information:
Carole-Anne Huot, person in charge of media relations
Phone: 418 646-7143/Cell: 418 925-7994
Email: medias@protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca
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