Becoming an assistant

To become an assistant:

• you must know the person who wants assistance (you must be a relative or someone close to them, or have an interest in them, e.g., informal caregiver, neighbour or friend);
• you must be an adult (or a fully emancipated minor);
• you must be able to exercise your civil rights (not be under a protective supervision regime, such as a tutorship, temporary representation or a homologated protection mandate);
• you must not have an assistant yourself;
• you must be available to help the person;
• you must have person’s best interests at heart;
• you must agree to respect the privacy and confidentiality of the person’s personal information;
• you must agree to advocate for the person’s wishes and preferences.

The Curateur public cannot be an assistant, nor can a professional (social worker, specialized educator, notary, etc.) as part of their duties.

However, please note that a few organizations selected as part of a pilot project  may be recognized to assist a person who has no relatives to be recognized as assistants. 

Once you have been officially recognized by the Curateur public, you must:

• act with prudence and diligence; in other words, be transparent and fair;
• intervene only at the assisted person’s request and in matters identified by them;
• advocate for the assisted person’s wishes and preferences to third parties;
• help the assisted person understand the information and decisions communicated by third parties;
• inform the Curateur public of any change in your situation;
• confirm your identity when dealing with third parties and provide them with your security code, if they request it when consulting the Public register of assistants. This security code identifies the person you are assisting. This is available in the online My Assistance Measure Account platform.

Under specific circumstances, activity reports may be requested by the Curateur public.

Communicating with third parties following your recognition 

Once your recognition has been granted and confirmed by the Curateur public, you will receive a reminder on best practices for communicating with a product or service provider, as well as a card attesting to the recognition obtained.

This card may be useful during your interactions with third parties. It includes, in particular, the measure number, as well as a link and a QR code to access the Public Register of Assistants.

Things an assistant can do

With the assisted person’s consent, you can:

• obtain confidential information, such as tax information from Revenu Québec or the Canada Revenue Agency, as needed;
• advise the assisted person, for example, explain the real estate market to help them make decisions such as selling their home or renting an apartment;
• act as intermediary with third parties to receive or send information or decisions, for example, obtain details on allowances paid to the assisted person or update information in their file;
• advise the assisted person on their expenses, for example, help them to make a budget to their manage money better.

Things an assistant cannot do

As an assistant, you cannot:

• sign documents on the assisted person’s behalf;
• make decisions for them or on their behalf;
• act in situations of conflict of interest;
• exercise the assisted person’s civil rights;
• charge money for your help (your services must be provided free of charge).