Quebec invests nearly $1M for ‘patient navigators’ to improve health care for English-speakers

Quebec is putting close to $1 million toward hiring patient navigators to help English-speaking residents access medical services in regions outside Montreal.

Quebec announced nearly $1 million in funding for a new pilot project to improve access to health care for English-speaking residents.

The new money will be directed toward the hiring of “patient navigators,” who will serve as a liaison between vulnerable English-speaking Quebecers and their health providers during appointments.

The navigators will mainly serve patients who face additional challenges in accessing health care or who experience difficulties in accessing medical information, both verbal and written, in their language.

On Thursday, Christopher Skeete, the Minister Responsible for Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers, announced the new project, the Initiative de guides accompagnatrices ou accompagnateurs pour les patientes et patients d’expression anglaise (GAP), or “Initiative for Patient Navigators for English-Speaking Patients” in English.

The minister said the province is investing $995,000 for the project.

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The service will be offered in nine administrative regions across Quebec, all of them outside of Montreal. Three of the navigators hired will be full-time, while eight others will be part-time, depending on the need in each region, Skeete explained.

“What we’re seeing is that somebody has a health issue, they go to the hospital, they get the accompaniment and then they get the service that they need in the end because they were accompanied. We’re seeing diminished anxiety, we’re seeing better health-care outcomes and we’re also seeing better patient access,” Skeete said in an interview Thursday.

“Both official languages are at the heart of our identity and represent a great strength for Canada. Language should not be a barrier to health. And thanks to this investment, we are taking concrete action to ensure that all Canadians have access to safer, high-quality health care and services, including English-speaking communities in Quebec,” said Marc Miller, the federal Minister responsible for Official Languages, in a news release.

The pilot project is part of the provincial government’s Support Program for Organizations Serving the English-Speaking Communities and the Canada–Québec Agreement on the Implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages.

It will run from April 1 to March 31, 2027.

Patient navigators to be deployed in nine regions in Quebec:

• Bas-Saint-Laurent: (Heritage Lower Saint Lawrence; part-time navigator)
• Capitale-Nationale: (Jeffery Hale Community Partners; full-time navigator)
• Côte-Nord: (North Shore Community Association; part-time navigator)
• Eastern Townships: (Townshippers’ Association; part-time navigator)
• Montérégie: (Assistance and Referral Centre; part-time navigator), Montérégie East Partnership for the English-speaking Community, part-time navigator), (Montérégie West Community Network; full-time navigator)
• Lanaudière: (English Community Organization of Lanaudière; part-time navigator)
• Laurentians: (4Korners; full-time navigator)
• Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean: (English Community Organization Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean; part-time navigator)
• Outaouais: (Connexions Resource Centre; part-time navigator)