Until the mid-1960s, there was no formal support for health research in Québec or Canada.

At the time, researchers worked in hospitals to stay in tune with their research issues and close to their patients. Because hospitals budgets did not account for researcher salaries, laboratory equipment or library material, in 1964, the Conseil de recherches médicales du Québec (CRMQ) – which would become the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) – was created to support the sector.

Within this general context, for the past 50 years, the federal and provincial governments as well as paragovernmental and private organizations have spearheaded initiatives in Québec to level the playing field in international health research. Public research, which had been carried out by isolated investigators and small groups, was slowly transformed, making way for centres and national and international networks that gained a multisectorial and multidisciplinary dimension.

1964

-Conseil de recherches médicales and the Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec

1966

-Creation of the Science Council of Canada

1969

-Creation of the Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC)
-Creation of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)

1974

-The Conseil de recherches médicales becomes the Conseil de la recherche en santé du Québec

1977

-Creation of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC)

1979

-Creation of the Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale (CQRS), which would become the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC)

1981

-The Conseil de la recherche en santé du Québec becomes the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ)
-Creation of a Fonds to train researchers and support research (Fonds FCAR), which would become the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT)

1983

-Bill 19 to support scientific and technological development in Québec

1988

-Implementation of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (Canada)

1997

-Creation of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

1999

-Creation of the Ministère de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie (Québec)

2000

-Launch of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
-Creation of Genome Canada and Génome Québec

2001

-Tabling of the Politique québécoise de la science et de l’innovation – Savoir changer le monde by the Ministère de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie (MRST)
-Restructuring of the missions of the three Québec funding agencies: the FRSQ becomes responsible for public health research in all sectors in hospitals and academic institutions.

2005

-The FRSQ and the two other Fonds de recherche du Québec report to the Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE)

2006

-Launch of the Québec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS) by the Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE)

2010

-Launch of the 2010-2013 Québec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS) by the Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE)

2011

-Implementation of Bill 130
The FRSQ becomes the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS), the FQRSC becomes the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC) and the FQRNT becomes the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologies (FRQNT).
Creation of the Québec Chief Scientist position.

The FRQS: Supporting health research

For almost 50 years, the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) has planned, developed and driven Québec’s dynamic public health research sector. The first agency of its kind in Canada, the FRQS is at the heart of a vast research infrastructure network. Its effective model has been emulated elsewhere in Canada and around the world, and it has enabled the agency to:

-Support outstanding researchers and students;

-Value scientific, clinical and ethical excellence;

-Foster knowledge transfer and value and disseminate expertise;

-Promote national and international synergies and partnerships.

The FRQS supports a broad system of 18 centres, 9 groups and 18 networks made up of some 3 000 researchers and 6 000 graduate and postdoctoral students focused on different research themes.

The FRQS research centres are located in university health centres (university hospitals, institutes and affiliated university centres), bringing together a critical research mass and enabling health centres to carry out the research and teaching missions required for recognition as a university institution. The programs of each research centre are in line with the health care and training sectors of excellence of their host institutions, and the FRQS ensures the complementarity of the institutional programs. The research centres facilitate knowledge transfer best practices in health care and services.

The FRQS research groups are located in university institutions and include a smaller number of researchers collaborating on a common theme.

The FRQS research networks serve to virtually link health science researchers (chiefly members of FRQS centres and/or groups) based on a specific issue. Network members may also work in organizations that are not funded by the FRQS, including the Centres locaux de services communautaires (CLSC), regional boards or private businesses. By bringing together experts from across Québec around a specific theme, the networks constitute a unique tool to create national and international research ties.

The FRQS believes that researcher access to adequate human and technological infrastructure is a determining factor in maintaining a competitive edge. It is for this reason that the Fonds invests close to 50% of its financial resources in supporting these three programs through leveraging.

Québec posts an excellent performance in the health research sector. Though it is home to only 23% of the Canadian population, on average, Québec earns 30% of the funding granted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the nation’s largest health research funding agency.