Please read this Agreement carefully. It governs the use of this Website operated by the Centre d’information et de référence de la Capitale-Nationale et de la Chaudière-Appalaches (CIR). This Agreement states the terms and conditions under which, the User may access and use the Website.

BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE WEBSITE, YOU ARE INDICATING YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MUST NOT ACCESS OR USE THE WEBSITE.

The CIR may unilaterally revise this Agreement from time to time, in which case we will provide you with a notice of such revision by posting the amended Agreement on this Website. Use of the Website after such notice will signify your acceptance of these revised terms. You should visit this page periodically to review this Agreement.

1. About the CIR

The Centre d’information et de référence de la Capitale-Nationale et de la Chaudière-Appalaches (CIR). provides information and referral through the Internet, helplines and email. The Centre collects, maintains and disseminates bilingual information on community or public agencies serving the population. Thanks to these data, individuals can make informed choices to improve their quality of life.

2. Inclusion and Exclusion Policy

2.1 Listing Criteria

The Information and Referral Centre assesses and reviews when necessary, listing criteria which will accurately reflect its mission and mandate. For such purpose, the Inclusion and Exclusion Policy for the database is to establish priorities, rules and procedures to guide the CIR in collecting, maintaining and publishing information resources provided by agencies and services available on our database, publications and Website.

Inclusion of an agency in the database is free. It is not dependent upon the purchase of a membership, products or separate advertising space from the CIR.

Data are processed in compliance with AIRS Standards / Inform Canada Standards and Quality Indicators for Professional Information and Referral (www.airs.org/standards).

2.2 Territory

The CIR refers community services available in the regions of Centre-du-Quebec, Capitale-Nationale, Chaudiere-Appalaches, Mauricie, MRC Haute-Yamaska, MRC Brome-Missisquoi, and Nord-du-Quebec

2.3 General Criteria for Inclusion

Subject to the priorities detailed in the next section, the database includes organizations or programs primarily located in or serving the area that:

  • Provide a direct service to the public;
  • Are networks or coalitions of direct service providers (ex : Working Table);
  • Are involved in licensing, planning or coordinating direct services (ex : Professional Orders);
  • Are non-profit, community-based or government organizations.

Organizations must demonstrate their ability to provide ongoing reliable services. The CIR reserves the right to exclude from database any organization not forwarding the latest and most accurate updates, and whose information cannot be verified otherwise.

2.4 Priorities

The CIR sets first and second priorities for the listing of services on the Website. For first-priority areas, every effort is made to have comprehensive listings of all eligible services. For second-priority areas, collection depends on available staff resources and funding, agreements with other agencies, and the ability of other agencies to collect and disseminate information. Rather than collect comprehensive information in second-priority areas, the CIR may collect information regarding representative groups, or refer Users to other telephone or Internet-based services.

The CIR gives first priority to basic subsistence services related to the following needs and groups:

  • Seniors;
  • Food resources;
  • Material assistance and housing;
  • Employment and Income;
  • Intellectual disability;
  • Physical disability;
  • Immigration and cultural communities;
  • Homelessness;
  • Youth and Family;
  • Justice and Advocacy;
  • Physical health;
  • Mental health;
  • Sexual identity and gender;
  • Psychosocial support and crisis intervention.

The CIR gives second priority importance to the following category of services:

  • Community development (ex : consultation-based agencies, groupings, federations);
  • Education;
  • Government public services;
  • Recreation, sports, culture, tourism;
  • Social clubs.

2.5 General Criteria for Exclusion

The database does not include:

  • Profit-oriented companies and private practitioners;
  • Lobby groups;
  • Political parties.

Service non-delivery, frauds, misrepresentations, discrimination, criminal activities, or operating outside licensing mandates, can constitute, among other things, potential grounds for exclusion or removal from the database.

Concerning information processing and dissemination, the CIR remains neutral and impartial and therefore will not exclude any organization meeting the requirements of this policy. Decision to include, exclude or remove an organization or a program may be appealed by emailing or phoning the Documentation Services. Our staff will review the request and contact, if necessary, the organization for further information.

3. Listing Updates

In compliance with AIRS standards / Inform Canada Standards and Quality Indicators for Professional Information and Referral, updates and inclusion of new agencies are done annually by trained agents. To help with this process, the CIR counts on the cooperation of each agency to review and update information concerning their services. Agencies are directly contacted by the Documentation staff. A verification file is sent each year to each organization.

The Documentation staff can also resort to other available documentary resources (Internet, official publications, etc.) to meet people’s needs or complete a file. Regarding public or parapublic services, information is collected directly on their official websites. Once the information collection is over, the CIR reserves the right to edit or modify files in order to ensure uniformity, quality and stay within its mandate.

Every effort is implemented to maintain accurate and reliable information. Nevertheless, community services change so rapidly that some omissions and inaccuracies are inevitable. The CIR is available at all times for any information change or update from the service provider.

4. No Endorsement and Disclaimer

Inclusion or exclusion of an organization by the CIR does not imply, in any case, endorsement or disapproval of its mission.

Information available on the Website is provided for educational and information purposes only. It is not intended to dispense legal, medical or vocational advice.

The Website and publications by the CIR contain links to other websites. The CIR does not assume responsibility for the information disseminated on these websites, nor should be held liable for any damage resulting from the use of such websites.

THE WEBSITE AND THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS". WHILE THE CIR ENDEAVOURS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT IS CORRECT, ACCURATE AND TIMELY, THE CIR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE WEBSITE AND THE CONTENT INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT (1) THE CONTENT CONTAINED IN OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, (2) THE WEBSITE OR CONTENT WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, CURRENT, RELIABLE, OR TIMELY, (3) THAT THE OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, (4) THAT DEFECTS OR ERRORS IN THE WEBSITE OR THE CONTENT, BE IT HUMAN OR COMPUTER ERRORS, WILL BE CORRECTED, (5) THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE FREE FROM VIRUSES OR HARMFUL COMPONENTS, AND (6) THAT COMMUNICATIONS TO OR FROM THE WEBSITE WILL BE SECURE AND/OR NOT INTERCEPTED.

5. Privacy policy

5.1 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP Act)

Data is intended for general information purposes only and should not be distributed, copied or disclosed to anyone else. Its contents are protected by privilege, and all rights to privilege are expressly claimed and not waived. Further, any information that is confidential or personal will be subject to FOIPP Act and other relevant legislation

5.2 Confidentiality Warning in email communication

The CIR strives to ensure confidentiality in email communication. Nevertheless, absent the use of encryption, the Internet is not a secure medium and privacy cannot be ensured. Internet email is vulnerable to interception and forging. The CIR will not be held responsible for any damages you or any third party may suffer as a result of the transmission of confidential information that you make to the CIR, or that you expressly or implicitly authorize the CIR to make, or for any errors or any changes made to any transmitted information.

6. Ownership and Limited Licence

This Website and its content are protected by copyright law and are owned by the CIR, except where content is identified as the copyright property of another entity. The Website application and design is the property of the CIR. The CIR grants to the User a limited, non-transferable and non-exclusive licence to access, view and use (display or print) a reasonable number of search results for their own personal, non-commercial use, provided the information is not modified and that all copyright, trademark and other notices contained in the Website are maintained. None of the information may be otherwise reproduced, republished or re-disseminated in any manner or form without the express prior written consent of the CIR.

The system used to index the services on this Website is the Canadian Taxonomy of Human Services: AIRS/211 Los Angeles County Taxonomy of Human Services, © 1983-2012. No part of this taxonomy may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express prior written consent of 211 L.A. County. Full details are available at http://www.211la.org.

7. Termination

The CIR reserves the right to remove or disable access to the Website, with or without notice, to any User who violates this Agreement. If the User violates any provision of this Agreement, the User's permission to use the content automatically terminates and the User must immediately destroy any copies it has made of the content. The CIR retains also the right to take any other appropriate legal actions to enforce its rights and disclaims any liability for unauthorized use or reproduction of any portion of the Website.

8. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall the CIR be liable for damages of any kind, including, without limitation, any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damage or any other damages whatsoever and howsoever caused, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Website or in reliance on the information available on the Website, including, without limitation, any loss of use, lost data, lost business profits, business interruption or any other loss incurred in connection with the use or misuse of the Website, regardless of the cause and whether the action is in contract, tort (including negligence), civil liability or otherwise. The foregoing limitation shall apply even if the CIR knew of or ought to have known of the possibility of such damages.

9. General Provisions

The User agrees that all matters relating to the access to, or use of the Website and its content shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Québec and the laws of Canada notwithstanding any otherwise applicable conflict of laws rule. The User hereby consents and submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of Québec in any action or proceeding instituted under or related to this Agreement.

If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed to be severed from the rest of this Agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

The provisions of this Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties and each of their respective successors and assigns.

No waiver, express or implied, by the CIR of any breach of or default by User under this Agreement will constitute a continuing waiver of such breach or default or be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default.

Any rights not expressly granted by this Agreement are reserved to the Centre d’information et de référence de la Capitale-Nationale et de la Chaudière-Appalaches (CIR).

10. Contact Us

If you are experiencing difficulties in using the Website or if you have any questions or comments regarding the Website, please contact us at documentation@info-reference.qc.ca.