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Montréal – The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) highlights the seriousness of what emerged from the coroner’s report on the death of a young girl from Granby. The findings are clear: systemic failures, breaks in services and a serious lack of resources contributed to a tragedy that could have been prevented.

“For too long, our members have been sounding the alarm,” said APTS president Robert Comeau. “We’re speaking out against work overloads, the lack of stability on teams and the inability to act quickly to protect vulnerable children. Today, the coroner confirms what we’ve been saying: we need change, and we need it now.”

The report highlights that labour shortages, heavy workloads and the intensity of the work remain major challenges. It also stresses the urgent need to improve coordination between sectors, strengthen front-line services and make interventions more consistent and focused on prevention.

“Tragedies like the one in Granby aren’t inevitable,” said Robert Comeau. “With adequate staffing, better collaboration, stable services and proper front-line resources, we can support parents, protect children and restore the public’s trust.”

For Sébastien Pitre, APTS officer for youth centres, the message is clear: “The coroner is confirming what we’ve been saying for years: you can’t protect children when there’s a labour shortage and teams are exhausted. This report needs to be a catalyst for deep reform in the system, with a focus on prevention, training and service stability.”

As you may recall, the Laurent Commission in 2021 had already proposed many of the same solutions being echoed today: increased support for families, specialized training for caseworkers and better coordination between teams across different systems.

The APTS calls on the Québec government to immediately implement the coroner’s recommendations, as well as those from the Laurent Commission report, and to ensure the necessary investments are made to build a system truly capable of fulfilling its mission to protect children.

The APTS

The APTS (Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux) represents more than 68,000 members who play a key role in ensuring that health and social services institutions run smoothly. Our members provide a wide range of services for all Quebecers, including diagnostic, rehabilitation, nutrition, psychosocial intervention, clinical support, and prevention services.