By Yves Vaillancourt, François Aubry, Muriel Kearney
Luc Thériault and Louise Tremblay
Cahier 04-04 – Avril 2004 – 35 pages
[Introduction] This chapter is largely inspired by various studies conducted at the Laboratoire de recherche sur les pratiques et les politiques sociales and at the Community-University Research Alliance on the Social Economy (Université du Québec à Montréal), as well as in Saskatchewan at Social Policy Research Unit (University of Regina). It has two aims. The first is to highlight how the changing social policies in Canada are a major determinant of the health and well-being of the population. The second is to explain that social economy initiatives (or “third sector” initiatives) can contribute to make social policy reforms, in a context of transformation of the welfare state, more apt at ameliorating the health and quality of life of individuals, families, and communities in Québec and in the rest of Canada.