Progressive Closure of the Support Service for designated centres providing medico-docial services for sexual assault victims
The Montréal Sexual Assault Centre (MSAC) is obliged to progressively terminate the activities of the Support Service between now and August 29, 2025.
Over the past six years, in close collaboration with the ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux, the MSAC has developed and coordinated the activities of the Support Service of which you are all users. This mandate ended on January 20, 2025. After months of discussion beginning in October 2024, Santé Québec decided to take a year to completely revise the Support Service’s service offering and to significantly reduce its funding to less than 66% of the previous budget.
The MSAC has also been informed that the services offered by the Support Service are to be taken over by Santé Québec at the end of this year-long mandate. Although this decision has significantly weakened our ability to maintain the Support Service’s operations, we have agreed to adapt certain activities to avoid a complete disruption of services. As it now stands, however, the new mandate is still under discussion, the final service agreement has yet to be signed, and we have yet to receive funding for the services we are maintaining during this contractual vacuum.
Under these conditions, and given the precarious and uncertain situation in which the MSAC now finds itself, we have no choice but to withdraw from the Support Service. With the aim of ensuring the best possible transition, the MSAC plans to gradually wind down the Support Service. Santé Québec has been informed of the dates and terms of the closure.
Services that will be maintained until closing
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Training program in medico-social services in designated centres for victims of sexual assault (Formation sur l’intervention médicosociale en centres désignés auprès des victimes d’agression sexuelle)
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Direct consultation service by email, telephone, the Support Service website or Teams for medico-social teams, their managers and regional representatives
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Work on updating medico-social intervention tools
Our Medico-social Intervention Coordinator will continue to be available to assist you in your efforts to ensure service continuity until the Support Service has been completely shut down.
Provincial
training
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August 25, 2025, at 9:00 am: No further access to interim provincial training on medico-social intervention in designated centres. We encourage you to complete your training during the next few weeks.
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August 26, 2025, at noon: Closure of the consultation service for designated centres.
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August 26, 2025, at 5:00 pm: No further access to the Support Service website.
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August 29, 2025, at 5:00 pm: Termination of all Support Service activities.
Training and certification
If you are currently working on a training course, we strongly recommend that you complete
it before August 25, 2025.
If you fail to complete your training before the closure of the Support Service, your progress will be lost. No partial certification will be issued.
Persons who have completed the entire provincial training program as well as the assessment before the closing date will be eligible for certification. Certifications will be issued as of August 27, 2025.
Do not hesitate to contact us before the training closing date if you would like an assessment of your eligibility for certification.
Do you have any questions about the closing of the Support Service ?
Please contact us at one of the following email addresses: [email protected]
or Deborah Trent
The Support Service is proud to have been allied with designated centres across Québec.
We sincerely thank all our collaborators for their trust in us over the past six years in developing and implementing this important mandate.
Please note that the MSAC will be maintaining all its services and activities with its clients and partners, including its services as a designated centre for the Montréal region.
Thank you.