Youth
The Youth Action Strategy consolidates all government action targeting young people. It aims at giving them the tools needed to growth so that they can develop their full potential. Its main objectives are to foster educational success, enrich training and experience opportunities, improve living conditions, support young people with difficulties, and encouraging social engagement.
The strategy was developed based on the main needs and significant concerns of young people. It breaks down into six major challenges: education and employment, entrepreneurship, health, regions, diversity, and environment. As an indication of its importance, the youth portfolio is handled at the highest level of government, that is, by the Premier himself.
In pursuing the Youth Action Strategy 2009-2014, the government is joining its efforts with those of all the other stakeholders concerned about young people to establish conditions that would foster their full participation in Québec society. By enriching the experiences, living conditions, training, and knowledge of our youth, we are investing in youth, empowering Québec's future.
Consult Youth Action Strategy 2009-2014 
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Who are youth? Some define youth as those under 18; others as the 15-29 age group. The division used to delimit youth is arbitrary and depends on the point one wishes to illustrate. Here, youth are defined as those under 30; however, this age group obviously includes several very different realities. This period can be subdivided into four stages of development: ages 0-5 (preschool), 6-11 (elementary school), 12-17 (high school) and 18-29 (integration into the adult world). Throughout these stages of development, the relative importance and influence of various spheres changes; family is at first the most significant, then school and peers, then studies, work and relationships. These stages are also marked by many transitions, which constitute challenges that young people from 0-29 face on a daily basis.
According to the Institut de la statistique du Québec, in 2002, there were 2,767,058 young people aged 0-29 in Québec, which corresponds to approximately 37% of the population. The 0-5 age group represented 6% of the total population of Québec; the 6-11, 8%; the 12-17, 7%; and the 18-29, 16%. More than statistics, the youth of today are also the future of our society, the workers of tomorrow. Their energy and creativity are precious resources that can inspire us all.
The majority of young people obtain the resources they require for their health, safety, well-being and development from their parents, families and communities. For some, however, the journey to adulthood is more difficult. They must face problems of all kinds including negligence, abuse, sexual assault, learning and/or behavioural difficulties, difficulty integrating into the job market, teenage pregnancy, mental health issues, etc.
To support and assist them in overcoming these problems,
various programs and services have been established,
particularly in the health and social services sector.
CLSCs provide numerous resources to improve the situations of young
people in difficulty. In addition, depending on the
issue, a variety of organizations and associations can
offer support. To find out more, contact your CLSC.
Tel-Jeunes is also a resource specifically for youth,
which provides a hotline service (1-800-263-2266) as
well as online support .
When the safety or development of a child or adolescent
is in danger, the situation falls under the Youth Protection
Act. At that point, youth
protection center have the mandate to intervene.
They are also responsible for providing services to
young offenders.
The Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux has also developed the Orientations relatives aux standards d'accès, de continuité, de qualité, d'efficacité et d'efficience - Programme-services Jeunes en difficulté - Offre de service 2007-2012. These directions reflect the government's determination to improve the health and well-being of young people facing difficulties within the framework of the new provisions in the Youth Protection Act.
They specify the services to be put into place in all regions by 2012. Furthermore, they set the targeted standards for improving services offered to this particularly vulnerable group of individuals.
By fostering the optimal development of young people, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux and the Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport have entered into a new agreement for the complementarity of services offered by their systems, which is known as the École en santé (French only) initiative. This agreement includes services to promote health and well-being, prevention services, and support, adjustment, and rehabilitation services. It aims at adopting a comprehensive vision of the needs of young people and their families, and of priority actions, while specifying the shared and specific responsibilities of the partners involved.
The provincial government has also adopted the means for supporting youth development, specifically, the Conseil permanent de la jeunesse (French only) and Secrétariat à la Jeunesse (French only), which is directly under the authority of the Premier.
