It was in a warm atmosphere that Marie-Vincent celebrated the official launch of its two innovative programs for the prevention of sexual violence: Pathways and Compass. The event took place on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at the Giant Steps autism center.
The evening featured a friendly cocktail, booths hosted by the team and by the Marie-Vincent Interuniversity Research Chair on Child Sexual Abuse, offering everyone the opportunity to concretely discover the new programs and their evaluation by the Chair.
A big thank you to everyone who attended for their support and commitment to being part of a protective community for all children: network partners, funders, Rosemont MNA Vincent Marissal, the media, and of course, the Marie-Vincent team!
Building programs to prevent sexual violence
This evening highlighted the collaborative work and essential partnership between the various stakeholders involved, who were able to exchange, share, and strengthen their common commitment to preventing sexual violence.
Nearly ten years ago, Marie-Vincent laid the first stone with the early stages of Lantern, a program to prevent sexual violence aimed at preschool children and the adults around them, focusing on sex education and the promotion of egalitarian relationships. Since then, the conviction has remained the same: to educate, believe, and protect all young people from sexual violence and to strengthen the capacities of the adults around them to do the same.
It is with this motivation that Pathways and Compass were created.
Check out our full photo album on Facebook.
Two programs, one mission
Compass
The Compass program is aimed at children aged 6 to 12, their entourage, and specifically at community workers, leisure sector professionals, as well as people working in day camps and summer camps (managers, supervisors, coordinators, psychosocial workers, and counselors). As of September 2025, it already included:
- 1 online training for camp counselors;
- 1 playful and educational toolkit;
- 5 humorous video clips highlighting the role of parents and relatives.
In addition, 510 people had been trained across 81 community organizations and 38 camps.
Pathways
The tools of the Pathways project were developed for children aged 4 to 12, who face challenges in cognition and/or communication related to a mild intellectual disability (ID), autism with mild support needs, or a developmental language disorder (DLD) as the target audience.
In 2025, the program already included:
- 1 toolkit co-constructed with partners from the community, early childhood, and school sectors;
- 3 video clips debunking myths surrounding sex education and giving voice to the realities of these children.
Training had been delivered to 170 people, with more than 20 additional sessions already planned.
In the media
Le Devoir : Un programme pour mieux protéger les enfants ayant une déficience intellectuelle
CityNews : Marie-Vincent launches two programs for youth sex education
A collaborative approach
These achievements are the result of a great chain of solidarity. Marie-Vincent wishes to express its deep gratitude to:
- The Public Health Agency of Canada (Compass) and the Fondation Lucie and André Chagnon (Pathways), for their decisive financial support;
- Field partners, who shared their experience, ideas, and passion;
- Creative teams and suppliers, who helped bring the many tools to life;
- All the collaborators and allies who contributed to the success of these programs.
Compass
Members of the Compass multidisciplinary partners committee:
- Éric Beauchemin, Executive Director, Association des camps du Québec
- Béatrice Lavigne, Director of Development and Partnerships, Conseil québécois du loisir
- Janie Bergeron, Coordinator, Regroupement des organismes ESPACE
- Caroline Bergeron, Deputy Executive Director, Fédération québécoise des centres communautaires de loisir
- Pénélope Allard-Cobetto, Research Officer, Marie-Vincent Interuniversity Research Chair
- Myriam Hivon, Director of Training and Research, Fondation Dr. Julien
- Martine Hébert, Co-holder of the Marie-Vincent Interuniversity Research Chair
- Émilie Chantal Tremblay, Sexologist
- Laura Lacroix, Sexologist
Collaborators and project partners:
Alexandre Roger, Illustrator / Léonie Coté, Graphic Designer / Sabry Abdel Saadi, Implementation Coordinator, Knowledge Hub Center for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children / Martine Gagnon, Fédération Québécoise des Organismes Communautaire Familles / Marie Simard, Confédération des Organismes Familiaux du Québec / Anne-Marie Cech, CHSSN / ID COM
Pathways
Members of the Pathways multidisciplinary partners committee:
- Noémie Téchède, Communications Coordinator, Société québécoise de la déficience intellectuelle (SQDI)
- Lili Plourde, Executive Director, Fédération québécoise de l’autisme
- Katérie Vigeant, Member Services Coordinator, Regroupement pour la Trisomie 21 (RT21)
- Bianca Nugent, President, Coalition de parents d’enfants à besoins particuliers du Québec
- Richard Cléroux, Executive Director, Association Dysphasie+
- Julie Huard, Special Education Teacher in Inclusive Education for Children Requiring Additional Support
- Nathalie Ringuette, Sexologist and Advisor in Promotion-Prevention, School Climate, and Sexuality Education, Centre de services scolaire de la Capitale
- Julie Lapierre, Psychoeducator, École Marie-Rivier
- Catherine Daigneault, Liaison Officer, Centre François-Michelle
- Chloé Dextraze, Sexologist and Educational Advisor, Complementary Educational Services, Centre de services scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries
- Danielle Dunberry, Support and Expertise in ID-ASD
Collaborators and project partners:
Julien Castanié, Illustrator / Léonie Côté, Graphic Designer / Association de parents de l’enfance en difficulté (APED) / TACCOM, Video Production / 400 coups, Children’s Publishing House / Centre François-Michelle and École Marie-Rivier (pilot sites) / Julie Huard, Educational Review of the Directory
Finally, we would like to thank the Giant Steps autism center for hosting us for this event. Giant Steps, like Marie-Vincent, is a member of the Mouvement des Organismes Solidaires d’Angus, a group of nearly 20 organizations committed to energizing their community and launching initiatives focused on collective well-being.
Together, one step at a time, let us continue building a world free of sexual violence against children.