Quebec sees a 5% increase in youth protection reports

CTV News

19-06-2025

Lesley Hill, the new national director of youth protection, DPJ, speaks at a news conference, Thursday, October 31, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
Around 141,600 reports were made to Quebec's Youth Protection (DPJ) in 2024-2025, representing a five per cent increase compared to last year, according to statistics from the DPJ's annual report presented on Thursday.
The reports concern 105,675 children in Quebec.
'That's a lot of children we're concerned about,' said Montérégie DPJ director Marie-Josée Audette. 'The number of reports continues to rise. (...) Nevertheless, the retention rate is decreasing. There are 35,264 children for whom the report has been retained. This represents less than a third of all reports received.'
It should be noted that nearly 40 per cent of children taken into care by the DPJ remained in their family environment.
At a news conference in Quebec City, Lesley Hill, who became the new provincial director of youth protection (DPJ) last fall, acknowledged that youth protection issues are systemic. She said she began her tour of Quebec's regions, which allowed her to make observations in the field.
'Unfortunately, terrible things are happening to children. I was also able to see the magnitude of the challenges and systemic issues we face,' she said.
Hill was not surprised by this, as she is a former commissioner of the Special Commission on the Rights of Children and Youth Protection, which was formed in the wake of the Granby girl tragedy.
'We had already documented these systemic issues, but when you're in the field, you realize how complex it all is,' the director said.
More than 10,000 teenagers in care
Hill indicated in the report that a major transformation was needed to move toward more humane approaches in DPJ services.
'Many parents have told me how powerless they feel in a system that seems cold and austere to them. Many young people have told me about the importance of humanizing the system,' she said. 'Unfortunately, we are seeing that many children and families are being reported without having received any prior services, sometimes in extremely critical situations. And I always ask myself, if we had been able to provide them with better support, would we be in this situation?'
For 2024-2025, there were also 10,095 adolescents who received services under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (LLJPA), representing a 7.4 per cent increase over last year.
'It's a small number, but this small number requires our full attention so that it doesn't become a very large number. Several mechanisms, support systems and approaches have been put in place to ensure that we take the necessary steps to keep this number very small,' said Audette.
She spoke of 'very serious situations' that occurred this year and attracted the attention of youth protection directors, including affiliations with organized crime and car theft.
'The LLJPA clearly demonstrates that early intervention upstream prevents delinquency. The biggest predictors of delinquency are expulsion from school, isolation and neglect. The financial precariousness of families, the shortage of adequate housing, the psychological state of parents and children — these are all factors that need to be addressed. The DPJ cannot respond to all needs on its own,' argued Chaudière-Appalaches DPJ director Caroline Brown.
Difficult budgetary context
The fragile economic context means that the government faces difficult choices in managing its budget. In recent months, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has imposed cuts of several million dollars on the health and social services network, as well as on school service centres and the education sector.
'As the DPJ, it is clearly a concern when we talk about cuts affecting children and young people. As we have said, the impact is significant, particularly in schools, in terms of decisions to homeschool, suspend or expel students. But I think what we are also trying to see with the ministries and with Santé Québec is how to implement important measures that should not be overlooked for the children of Quebec,' said Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine DPJ director Michelle Frenette.
The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) has denounced the fact that working conditions remain a cause for concern in several regions, highlighting that there are 'hundreds of vacant positions, significant administrative overload and a severe lack of resources.'
'Our members are exhausted and have been waiting too long for concrete action to lighten their workload and improve their working conditions,' said APTS president Robert Comeau in a news release.
This has repercussions on the support offered to young people, particularly in cases of domestic violence or transition to adulthood.
However, Comeau is hopeful that Hill's recent appointment will improve the situation. He hopes that her mandate will lead to more transparent and constructive communication between the field and decision-makers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 19, 2025.
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