Curateur public pilot project to recognize non-profit organizations as assistants

Since November 1st, 2022, Québecers have benefited from the assistance measure, which enables a person living with a difficulty to receive free assistance from one or two people of their choice with making decisions, exercising their rights, and managing their property.  

To extend this measure, in particular to isolated populations, the Curateur public is launching a pilot project that would allow six non-profit organizations (NPO) to be officially recognized as assistants. Two people designated by the NPO—whether employees or volunteers—would be available to provide assistance at any time.  

The pilot project will end in October 2027. 

The pilot project aims to:

• Offer isolated people the services of recognized NPOs that can act as assistants;
• Support the organizations selected to take part in the pilot project in offering support to isolated people;
• Gather feedback and recommendations from organizations to optimize the use of the assistance measure. 

In fall 2024, the Curateur public invited interested organizations to apply to participate in the pilot project. The applications underwent a thorough review, leading to six organizations being selected to take part in the pilot project. Only these organizations are officially recognized as assistants.

Anyone who wishes to benefit from the assistance measure may contact a participating NPO to determine whether they are eligible.

Contact information for the participating NPOs can be found at the links below:

The assistance measure allows a person living with a difficulty to receive assistance from two representatives designated by a participating NPO. The Curateur public officially recognizes these representatives in their role as assistants, enabling them to help the person make decisions, exercise their rights, and manage their property.

This recognition, which is recorded in the Public register of assistants, allows the two designated representatives to act as intermediaries between the assisted person and third parties, such as organizations, government departments and agencies, service providers, and professionals (including doctors, pharmacists, social workers, lawyers, notaries, and chartered professional accountants).

The assisted person does not need to contact each third party individually to authorize the designated representatives to speak on their behalf. They also do not need to be present each time a designated representative contacts a third party. 

Depending on the assisted person’s needs and wishes, designated representatives may, for example, communicate with:

• Health professionals to:
  • Obtain or provide information related to the assisted person’s medical care;
• Service providers (e.g., cable, phone, Internet, electricity providers) to:
  • Review the details of a bill to ensure there are no errors or to confirm that a payment was made;
  • Inquire about the best plans for the assisted person;
  • Communicate any problems encountered by the assisted person;
• Financial institutions and insurance companies to:
  • Verify banking transactions;
• Government departments and agencies to:
  • Check the status of an application for benefits or compensation and ensure processing is not delayed by missing documents. 

Are you an assistant with one of the NPOs participating in the pilot project? Would you like to sign in to your partner access account? 

Access online services (in French only)

The assistance measure and non-profit organizations – Official recognition to support you! (PDF 680 Kb)

Mesure d’assistance – Bonnes pratiques pour faciliter vos communications avec un fournisseur de produits ou de services (in French only) (PDF 189 Kb)

The Assistance Measure – A measure for you! (PDF 372 Kb)

About the assistance measure

Vidéo La mesure d’assistance en bref (in French only)

Tutoriel du Registre public des assistants (in French only)

Comment consulter le Registre public des assistants? (in French only) (PDF 384 Kb)

Aide-mémoire destiné aux professionnels et aux fournisseurs de produits et de services (in French only) (PDF 541 Kb)

Tableau synthèse des mesures d’assistance et de représentation (in French only) (PDF 129 Kb)

Webinaires offerts par le Curateur public (in French only)