Quebec News and Stories

Celebrating Our Volunteers: The Heart of the Canadian Red Cross

- This National Volunteer Week (April 27 to May 4, 2025), we’re celebrating the incredible individuals who dedicate their time, energy, and passion to the Canadian Red Cross. Our volunteers are the heart of the organization and bring the mission of the Canadian Red Cross to life. 

Louise Bélanger’s Inspiring Humanitarian Story

- For the past four years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Louise. Her efficiency and sincerity never fail to impress me! Her career path led her from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to the Canadian Red Cross. She regularly drives a truck full of equipment and manages a team of men in the warehouse. All of this intrigued me deeply.  

Meet Denis, a volunteer supporting communities affected by Hurricane Fiona

- Originating on the coast of West Africa on September 14, 2022, Fiona’s destructive character took the world by surprise. Reported wind gusts ranged from 100 to 140 km/h, rainfall exceeded 100 mm in some locations and hundreds of thousands of people experienced power outages. Sadly, Fiona holds the record for being the most intense storm to ever hit Canada. Denis Lessard, a Quebec Canadian Red Cross volunteer since 2006, was deployed in Newfoundland on October 2, 2022, following this severe weather event.

How Red Cross is helping those impacted by Fiona in Canada

- The Canadian Red Cross continues to support those significantly impacted by post tropical storm Fiona that hit parts of the Atlantic provinces and Quebec. To date, the Red Cross has registered more than 79,000 households in all provinces impacted by the hurricane, and already distributed more than $11 million in financial assistance to over 32,000 eligible households.

Red Cross responds to Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada and Quebec

- The Canadian Red Cross is working closely with provincial, municipal, and Indigenous governments to provide help for people, communities, and businesses that have been impacted by Fiona. Find out how we are helping and where to get help if you need it.

Remembering the Saguenay flood, 25 years later

- Exactly 25 years ago, during the night of Friday, July 19 to Saturday, July 20, 1996, heavy rain triggered floods in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, threatening the entire region and causing one of the largest evacuations in the history of Quebec. Thousands of people, helpless in the face of the tragedy, braved the torrential floods that swept everything away.

Student association in support of the Red Cross: Preparing and inspiring the next generation

- Wishing to get involved in their community, two Université Laval students decided to volunteer at the Canadian Red Cross. Audrey Simard and Élizabeth Collin-Paré came up with the idea to create the Association étudiante en soutien à la Croix-Rouge (Student Association in Support of the Red Cross). 

Finding purpose in service: Bobbi Montean, Red Cross Volunteer

- “Be open. Be willing to try something you’ve never ever done before.”
 
Looking back on over 30 years of volunteering with the Canadian Red Cross, Bobbi Montean speaks from a wealth of experience.

Native Friendship Centre of Montreal: New relationships and opportunities for collaboration in urban

- Thanks to funding from Indigenous Services Canada, via First Nations and Inuit Health Branch and in collaboration with the First Nations Health Managers Association, the Canadian Red Cross launched a Help Desk to support Indigenous community leaders prepare for and respond to COVID-19. Here is how the Help Desk made it possible to help one of these leaders.

Would you know what to do in case of a landslide like the one in Saint-Jean-Vianney?

- Fifty years ago, on May 4, 1971, a landslide swallowed 56 homes in the village of Saint-Jean-Vianney in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, claiming 31 lives and forcing 1,342 people to seek refuge in reception centres and shelters.