Governmental Policy on Community Action

In partnership with the Comité aviseur de l'action communautaire autonome and an interdepartmental committee comprising representatives from twenty government departments and agencies, SACAIS was mandated to draft the Policy on the Recognition and Support of Community Action.

The first policy on the recognition and support of community action: Community action: A crucial contribution to the exercise of citizenship and the social development of Québec is the result of much work done in close partnership with the Comité aviseur de l'action autonome and the Comité interministériel de l'action communautaire. It also drew inspiration from a number of recommendations proposed following the public consultations held throughout Québec during Summer 2000 under the chairmanship of Gérald Larose.

Through the policy, the government places community organizations at the very heart of Québec's social practices and recognizes their role in Québec's social and economic development while allowing them to maintain their independence and freedom of action. The policy also harmonizes the various funding mechanisms used by government departments and agencies.

The government’s general objectives reflected in this policy are

• acknowledging, promoting, and supporting community action in the broad sense;
• acknowledging, promoting, and consolidating independent community action, more specifically rights advocacy organizations;
• ensuring the sustainability of community action through general operations and broad national guidelines that apply to all government departments and agencies;
• recognizing and supporting volunteering as practised in community organizations.

Many of the government’s commitments contained in this policy directly affect the role of the Fonds d’aide à l’action communautaire autonome (fund to assist independent community action), administered by SACAIS. As a result, SACAIS programs have been reviewed. The new programs took effect on April 1, 2002.

Community action: a crucial contribution to the exercise of citizenship and the social development of Québec ( , 1920 KB)

Community action: a crucial contribution to the exercise of citizenship and the social development of Qu ébec—Summary (, 959 KB)

Interdepartmental community action committee

The interdepartmental community action committee is composed of government departments and agencies that support community organizations in implementing the policy. The interdepartmental committee, in collaboration with SACAIS, is mandated to undertake various tasks related to funding formats and harmonizing and simplifying administrative practices governing the support provided to community organizations.