FIQ’s 13th convention | An important moment
Last week in Quebec City was an important moment for us.
The 13th FIQ convention laid the groundwork for our battles and solidarity in the years to come. I saw bold, brilliant and determined healthcare professionals reflect, discuss and debate the challenges of tomorrow. Your union delegates are driven by a sincere desire to defend your rights, improve your working conditions and make the healthcare network more humane.
It is therefore with immense pride and great emotion that I accepted the second term as president that they entrusted to me at the end of the elections.
Since 2021, I have had the privilege of representing you and championing our struggles and hopes. This role is demanding and often confrontational, but always deeply meaningful. As I begin my second term, my convictions and determination are stronger than ever. I will continue to represent your voice loud and clear, without compromise.
But my work would not be possible without the invaluable contribution of my colleagues. I would like to acknowledge all the work accomplished by Isabelle Giroux, Patrick Guay and Laurier Ouellet on the Executive Committee over the past four years. Their dedication has left an important mark on the FIQ.
A new team is being formed, and I am delighted to welcome Julie Daignault, Pascal Beaulieu and Sébastien Bouchard among us. I look forward to continuing the work alongside them and the re-elected members of the Executive Committee: Nathalie Levesque, Françoise Ramel, Isabelle Trépanier, Roberto Bomba and Jérôme Rousseau!
To learn more about the decisions that were made, the faces of the new Executive Committee and statutory committees, and the priority issues that will guide our actions in the coming years, I invite you to read this edition of the FIQ en action from start to finish.
Thank you for keeping our Federation alive with such strength and solidarity. We are and will remain unwavering in the face of tomorrow’s challenges.
Julie Bouchard
Présidente de la FIQ
Highlights
Les déléguées de la Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec–FIQ ont réélu à la majorité Mme Julie Bouchard à la présidence de la Fédération.
The FIQ’s 13th convention was an occasion for your union delegates to elect the members of the Executive Committee and statutory committees. These elected members will be representing you for the next four years.
Three priorities to guide our union action
At the FIQ’s 13th convention, your delegates debated the main political and union orientations, as well as the courses of action and priorities that will guide work in the coming years.
Resources dedicated to provincial negotiations
2024 was a year devoted to provincial negotiations, as delegates saw in the Federation’s financial statements presentation, which showed that the necessary financial and human resources were allocated to obtain a new collective agreement for healthcare professionals.
Régine Laurent prizes | Members honoured for their engagement
Since 2017, at every convention the FIQ awards the Régine Laurent prizes, which highlight individual and collective union engagement. The delegation selected the winners at the convention, held from June 2 to 6, 2025.
The convention in images
Discover the best snapshots from the FIQ’s 13th convention.
Care work: between feminist struggles, privatization and centralization
Watch the panel Care work: between feminist struggles, privatization and centralization (in French only)
Conferences
A public health network worth fighting for
Diversity of expertise, experiences and points of view: these are the strengths of Québec’s public health network that need to be consolidated, according to Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, Pediatrician, microbiologist-infectious disease specialist at the CHU Sainte-Justine, who spoke to the delegates on the second day of the 13th Convention of the FIQ.
Daring to defend public services and to fight for a more just future
We are living at a time of major upheaval: climate crisis, growing inequality, pandemics, rise of the far right. These crises are not accidents: they are the product of a system organized around profit, in service of the 1%, to the detriment of people and the planet. Faced with this reality, our union reaction can no longer be timid, fragmented or defensive.
That is Baba Aye’s clear and powerful message, delivered in a vibrant talk to the delegates at the 13th convention. He is the Health and Social Sector Officer for Public Services International.
Artificial intelligence in the health network: what are the issues for healthcare professionals?
The digital revolution is knocking on our doors, and the health network is no exception. During his conference given at the 13th Convention of the FIQ, Professor Vincent Pasquier (HEC Montréal) explained that artificial intelligence (AI) is already transforming our work, our professional relationships and the conditions in which we practise our profession.
Providing care without harming the environment
When he was a nurse clinician in home care, Jérôme Leclerc asked himself how to improve his patients’ health, while the network within which he worked was itself a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. “I made a distinction between my role as a nurse and my environmental concerns. But as I became aware of the scale of the problem, I realized that, as clinicians, we have a say.”
Today as coordinator of the Réseau d’action pour la santé durable du Québec (RASDQ), he is now interested in sustainable health and the different ways of decarbonizing the health network, subjects he discussed with delegates at the 13th Convention of the FIQ on June 4, 2025.
Right-wing movements: how do we deal with it?
At the FIQ’s 13th convention, feminist novelist and essayist Martine Delvaux gave a striking analysis of the rise of far-right movements and the resurgence of misogynist rhetoric. Since 90% of healthcare professionals are women, the return of a conservative rhetoric and the prevalence of hate cannot be taken as merely abstract questions. We must stay informed to confront it.
“Member engagement is where the power lies.” – Anne Jackson
Regardless of the country, the world cannot function without the working class! This was Anne Jackson’s opening message, a delegate from the Huron Vally Area Labor Federation, in her inspiring conference at the Federation’s 13th convention.
Care work: between feminist struggles, privatization and centralization
During the FIQ’s 13th convention, a panel highlighted the deep transformations that affect care work. They spoke of the essential and often invisible work of taking care of others in a context of government centralization, service privatization and austerity reforms.
The two panelists, Louise Boivin (feminist researcher affiliated with several research groups) and Anne Renée Gravel (professor at the Université TÉLUQ) presented troubling findings, as well as tangible ways to get closer to the field, as much in the health network as in childcare centres.
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