“We need stronger social services in Quebec,” argues Valérie Fernandez, president of the Quebec Order of Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists. The Order proposes five solutions to achieve this.
These proposals are being sent to political parties just before the start of the Quebec election campaign. The Order argues that improving access to social and community services is essential to resolving several crises, including mental health and homelessness.
“Homelessness is a bit like a symptom of the erosion of our entire social safety net over the years, through various reforms. Yes, we need to focus on this, it’s urgent, it’s necessary, but we also need to work on our social safety net by putting in place general social services that are accessible to everyone,” Fernandez points out.
The professional order’s priority is to increase social assistance benefits to $25,000 per year. Currently, basic social assistance for a single person without limitations is approximately $10,000, and $20,500 for a person with a disability or severe long-term limitations.
To arrive at the claimed amount of $25,000, the Order relied on the Market Basket Measure (MBM), which is used to estimate the income needed to cover basic needs in terms of housing, clothing, transportation, food, etc.
“In the current context, it’s hard to see how a person can meet all their basic needs with minimum benefits of $10,140,” commented Valérie Fernandez.
She explains that people in situations of extreme poverty are the primary clientele of social workers. “In recent months, there has been much talk about the cost of living, poverty, unaffordable housing, and homelessness. Everyone is looking for solutions,” she acknowledges. “So, we build and fund food banks, but we do so while ignoring a crucial and essential variable, perhaps the most important one: income.”
Health is overshadowing social services
Fernandez wants the next government to appoint a minister responsible for social services within the Council of Ministers. She believes it is no longer possible to merge the missions of health and social services because health has become “so dominant” that it monopolizes resources.
“We simply want social services to be under the responsibility of one person to give them their full place […] and that there is also the necessary funding and autonomy to have a good government response to the various social issues,” explains Fernandez.
Other solutions put forward by the Order include better recognizing and valuing professional practice in social work within the network, and increasing the availability of local social and community services.
Increase student numbers at university
There would be a shortage of at least 1650 social workers in the network, according to government projections published in 2023.
“We could easily, if we increase the cohorts, compensate for the lack of social workers in the network,” argues Fernandez.
According to data available to the Order, universities offering bachelor’s or master’s degree programs in social work in Quebec (the two programs leading to the social worker permit) received approximately 5600 applications for admission in the spring of 2025. Of these, 2000 people were admitted the following fall.
This demonstrates the interest in this profession, says Fernandez. The lack of financial resources at universities, coupled with a shortage of internships, hinders their ability to increase student enrollment.
“If there is a shortage of social workers in the network, it is highly likely that they are more overburdened and less able to take on and supervise interns. It’s a bit of a vicious circle,” laments the president of the Order.
On the other hand, McGill University is the only one to offer a master’s degree in marital and family therapy, which is taught in English.
According to the Order, in 2025, nearly 400 people were waiting for university training in French that would give access to the permit for marriage and family therapists.
And there are only 300 marriage and family therapists in Quebec, while “the needs are significant and family and marital models are becoming more complex,” says the Order, which is therefore calling for the creation of French-language university master’s programs in marriage and family therapy.
—The Canadian Press’s health coverage is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for this journalistic content.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
