Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Fondation Dépendances Montréal

Fondation Dépendances Montréal was a Montréal‑based charitable foundation dedicated to supporting the 10,000 people received each year by the specialized addiction services of the CIUSSS Centre‑Sud‑de‑l’Île‑de‑Montréal. Rather than delivering clinical care itself, the foundation financed complementary services and projects that humanised rehabilitation, reduced stigma around addictions and strengthened the social reintegration of users. Its funding improved physical spaces, paid for activities, and provided direct financial assistance to some of the most vulnerable clients of the addiction rehabilitation centres.

The foundation targeted youth and adults struggling with alcohol use, drug use (including opioids and cannabis), gambling disorders and cyber‑addiction, as well as their families. It focused on clients of the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance and the broader CIUSSS Centre‑Sud network across ten points of service on the island of Montréal. By financing leisure activities, cultural and sports outings, holiday meals, gifts and shared spaces, the foundation helped make treatment environments more welcoming and supportive. It also responded to basic needs through the distribution of warm clothing, sleeping bags, hygiene kits and the reimbursement of medication when frontline workers identified people in severe precarity.

Beyond material goods, Fondation Dépendances Montréal provided structured financial tools to foster long‑term recovery and social reintegration. It offered support for moving and setting up housing (movers, appliances, furniture, bedding and kitchen items), purchased public transit tickets and funded study bursaries to encourage education and training. The foundation also set up a microcredit program designed to give users access to small, responsible loans that could support key steps in their projects and autonomy. In addition, it invested in educational and awareness activities about addictions, developing information capsules in partnership with clinical teams and organising events such as alcohol‑free tastings.

The organization’s roots go back to 1999, when it was created as Fondation Dollard‑Cormier, attached to the then Dollard‑Cormier addiction centre. In 2013 the public institution became the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal, and in 2014 the foundation adapted its name to Fondation du Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal (Fondation CRDM). In 2021 it adopted the more accessible operating name Fondation Dépendances Montréal. Throughout these transformations, its core role remained to channel philanthropic donations towards projects and direct support for people in treatment. An official notice on the website states that the foundation ceased its activities on 13 February 2026, and the site now serves as an official archive with annual reports and financial statements.

The foundation demonstrated accountability by publishing annual reports and audited financial statements for each fiscal year, detailing the use of donations and the projects supported. A board of directors provided governance, and the strategic plan for 2024‑2027 outlined priorities in terms of humanising rehabilitation, meeting essential needs, supporting social reintegration and informing the public about addictions. Even without open calls for proposals, funding decisions were framed by this mission and by close collaboration with clinical teams in the CIUSSS Centre‑Sud’s specialized addiction services.