After the Second World war, a group of War veterans founded the Canadian Paraplegic Association. A Quebec chapter of this organisation was created in 1946. The Quebec Paraplegic Association became independent in 1978. The Quebec Association’s first major priority was to develop treatments and management systems to keep its members healthy. By working closely with Dr. Gustave Gingras, a doctor committed to their cause, the Association was able to establish the Institut de réadaptation de Montréal (IRM) in 1949.

In the 1960s, rehabilitating tetraplegics was a new challenge, one which the Association dealt with successfully. Besides these priorities, the Association dedicated itself, from the start, to the social reintegration of spinal cord injured patients. The goal was to return them to an active life. A Peer support service was offered to such patients throughout the rehabilitation and reintegration process. The Association also does advocacy work on behalf of its members and distributes relevant information in this area. It also provides counselling through a specialized human resource centre called Mode d’emploi. This centre helps many people with functional limitations of a physical or neurological nature to get into the labour market or go back to school.

Currently, the Association des paraplégiques du Québec has nearly 2000 members. Its mission is to improve the overall lives of spinal cord injured persons and to advocate on their behalf to secure their independence and participation at different levels of social and economic life. Today, spinal cord injured persons can thus look to the future with optimism.