Quebec fires head of SAAQ amid public inquiry into online platform debacle
Éric Ducharme was named CEO of SAAQ in April 2023
The Legault government has fired the CEO of Quebec's automobile insurance board, Éric Ducharme.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault named Annie Lafond, the current vice-president of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), interim CEO until further notice.
Lafond has been at the SAAQ since March 2025.
The Journal de Montréal first reported the story Wednesday morning.
Ducharme was appointed on April 5, 2023, more than a month after the chaotic launch of the SAAQclic digital platform, which led to a $500-million cost overrun, according to a scathing report by the auditor general.
Guilbault thanked him for his service, but said it was clear to her that after two years, the SAAQ still hadn't regained the trust of Quebecers.
"The fact remains that today we're in 2025, the challenge is great, the organization is in crisis. It takes someone to rectify this situation and to explain and convince Quebecers that someone is taking care of the situation," she said.
The SAAQ's new digital platform was intended to centralize most of the services offered by the agency. But when it launched in February 2023, users across the province struggled to access and navigate it, and for weeks, frustrated drivers lined up in the cold outside SAAQ offices as technical issues dragged on.
In June, Quebec's anti-corruption unit, known as UPAC, said it had been investigating the rollout of SAAQclic for months.
A public inquiry into the matter — presided over by Denis Gallant and known as the Gallant commission — started on April 24 of this year.
Lafond thanked the minister for showing faith in her, adding that she'll take the next few weeks to settle into her new role and come up with a recovery plan which will touch on the quality of services, financial priorities and of course, the SAAQ's digital transition.
"I'm going to take the time before so as to not make any announcements that are rushed or not well though out," she said.
With files from Radio-Canada's Jérôme Labbé