CLSCs (''centre local de services communautaires'', local community service centre) in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

are free clinics and hospitals run and maintained by the Quebec government. They are a form of

community health centre A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family pr ...

. The service was launched in the early 1960s after major reforms in the health and social services system were made by the Castonguay-Nepveu Commission during the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...

era in the 1960s. Until the commission, most

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

had been generally under jurisdiction of religious-affiliated agencies, primarily those of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. After the commission, the Quebec government, with several measures made by the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; 10 June 1912 – 12 December 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960 to 16 June 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is o ...

, took full control of the health and social services jurisdiction and later created the CLSCs. The province also granted access to a wide variety of services for free for most citizens. The Pointe-Saint-Charles Community Clinic was a model for the system. The network offers a wide variety of social, psychological, and health services. There are 147 CLSCs spread throughout the province.

References

{{Quebec-stub Medical and health organizations based in Quebec Government of Quebec Clinics