Quebec bets $500,000 on students moving in with seniors, and residences can apply

Tashi Farmilo

The Quebec government announced $500,000 on June 22 in Trois-Rivières to keep its Échanges entre générations program running for another year, a scheme that houses post-secondary students in seniors' residences across the province in exchange for their volunteer time, in a bid to ease the isolation of older residents and strengthen ties between the generations.

The announcement was made by Mathieu Lévesque, the minister responsible for Youth and minister delegate for the Regions, and the choice of Trois-Rivières as the backdrop was no accident, with the Mauricie's own MNA on hand to make the case.

Local groups that want in have a short window. Applications for the 2026-2027 round open July 6, and eligible organizations have until August 31 to submit projects aimed at building relationships between younger and older Quebecers. Residences and non-profits apply online through the province's di@pason platform, and full program details and eligibility rules are posted on the Quebec government website at quebec.ca under the Échanges entre générations program page. The $500,000 comes out of a larger $2.5-million envelope set aside for 2024-2029.

The arrangement can be worth real money to a participating residence. A home taking in a single student can receive up to $30,000, while one housing two students can receive up to $50,000, and the Centre collégial d'expertise en gérontologie at nearby Cégep de Drummondville helps residences set up and run their projects. The Secrétariat à la jeunesse has run the program since 2018 as a response to the province's aging population. In the previous round, announced in March 2025, the government spread roughly $552,000 across 16 projects in eight regions, placing 22 young people in seniors' living environments.

The funding sits under measure 68 of the government's 2024-2029 action plan on aging, La fierté de vieillir, led by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, which centres on helping people grow old at home.

"I am proud that our government is committed to supporting a dialogue that is essential to maintaining solidarity and to a better understanding of intergenerational realities," Lévesque said. "By encouraging volunteer involvement among young people, we foster the development of relationships built on mutual goodwill. In doing so, we help sustain and strengthen the ties between young people and seniors."