France Labelle Receives an Honorary Doctorate from Université Laval

It is an immense honour that has been bestowed upon our Executive Director and co-founder, France Labelle: on June 26, Université Laval awarded her an honorary doctorate (doctorate honoris causa) in psychology, its highest distinction, reserved for individuals whose influence is deemed remarkable and exemplary. She is one of eight figures honoured in this way this year.

This recognition celebrates an exceptional career. For more than four decades, France Labelle has devoted herself to psychosocial intervention and to concretely improving the lives of young people facing challenges of mental health, addiction, and social precarity. Under her leadership, Le Refuge des Jeunes de Montréal—born of an emergency project—has become a cornerstone of community intervention in Quebec. Since it first opened its doors, more than 26,000 young people have found there a safe space, compassionate and clinical support, and real pathways to social reintegration.

An influential and respected voice in the public sphere, France Labelle has seen her commitment recognized through numerous distinctions, including the Order of Canada and the Order of Montreal. This honorary doctorate now adds to that recognition, echoing a career wholly devoted to young people.

We invite you to listen to her speech (in french), delivered with all the sensitivity and strength she is known for:

"Today, it is I who stand before you, but in truth, I am a we. I am the sum of the people I have crossed paths with, here and elsewhere in the world, who have inspired me with their strength and their courage. I am the echo of every call I have heard, including the one I have never forgotten: 'Help me, or tell me if I no longer have a place among you.' I am the sum of all the confidences, the times of abandonment, the violence, the injustices that have been shared with me. I am a group of solidarity, of struggle, of action, and of hope, shared with hundreds of community workers, that changes the world one step at a time. And it is also, in part, in their name that I accept this immense honour today."