Women’s health forum in Laval highlights calls for more accessible and inclusive care
Nearly 80 participants gathered at Château Royal in Laval on March 25 for the Forum Femmes et santé, an event organized by the Table de concertation de Laval en condition féminine to discuss access to health care for women in the region, according to a press release issued March 26, 2026.
The forum brought together residents, elected officials, health professionals and community workers around what the organization described as a central issue: the right of Laval women to receive accessible, sensitive and adapted health care close to home.
According to the TCLCF, the event followed up on its 2023 report Droit à la santé des Lavalloises, which documented barriers faced by many women in their care journeys, particularly those living with poverty, discrimination or marginalization. The organization said the forum aimed to continue that work through a collective and intersectional lens.
Panels, workshops and plenary discussions during the day addressed a range of issues, including inclusive care, menstrual equity, reproductive justice, access to birthing centres and examples of local practices seen as promising by organizers.
In the press release, Rose-Marie Wakil, co-general coordinator at Action Femmes et Handicap, said services that truly respond to women’s needs cannot be designed without women themselves being involved in the process.
Khady Konaté, rights advocacy officer at the TCLCF, also stressed that access to health care should not depend on personal circumstances. In the press release, she said that timely care close to home should not be treated as a privilege.
The forum was also used by the organization to restate several of its health-related demands. According to the TCLCF, Laval still has no birthing centre and no midwifery practice on its territory. In the press release, Marie-Eve Surprenant, the group’s general coordinator, called it urgent for Laval, Quebec’s third-largest city, to establish a birthing centre and to recognize menstrual products as essential items that should be made available free of charge in public facilities.
The event also took place during the Communautaire à boutte strike movement, which is running from March 23 to April 2, 2026, and is drawing attention to what organizers describe as chronic underfunding in the community sector. In the press release, Joëlle Dorion, executive director of the Maisons des jeunes de Laval-Ouest et du Marigot and spokesperson for the Laval cell of the movement, said women’s health cannot be separated from adequate funding and recognition for the community organizations that support them.
The TCLCF describes itself as a regional feminist coalition for collective rights advocacy representing more than 30,000 women in Laval through its member groups. The organization says it has been working for more than 35 years to improve women’s living conditions and quality of life in the region.
