History

The Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel’s history is intrinsically linked to that of forensic psychiatry in Québec and Canada.

1927

Opening of the Bordeaux Asylum for Insane Prisoners, which houses violent and criminal psychiatric patients from hospitals across Québec.

1935

The Asylum has 350 patients, which explodes to a record 1,137 patients by 1959. At that time, Bordeaux Prison acted as a kind of emergency psychiatric facility for difficult patients. For many families upset that their loved ones with behavioural problems were being deprived of care, sometimes the only recourse was to have the patient arrested on a technicality in order to be hospitalized at Bordeaux.

1961

The Bédard Commission, established to study psychiatric hospitals, recommends the construction of a maximum security psychiatric hospital.

1962

The situation is deemed deplorable by health and governmental authorities. The Québec Ministry of Health forms a committee made up of doctors Lucien Panaccio, Bruno M. Cormier, and Camille Laurin to envision a modern hospital where treatments can be adapted to patients’ needs in the proper environment.

1963

The Québec government decides to build a maximum security psychiatric hospital to replace the one located in Bordeaux.

1964

Creation of the Corporation de l’Institut Philippe-Pinel. Architects, engineers, psychiatrists, and safety specialists pool their expertise to bring a hospital with an innovative mission into the healthcare network.

1965

Start of construction on the new hospital, which will eventually become the Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel.

1969

Dr. Lionel Béliveau becomes Director of the Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel. He will go on to inspire staff for 30 years, and put in place a philosophy of care and services that’s unique in Québec.

1970

Opening of the Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel. The hospital has 292 beds and provides a wide range of services specialized in the treatment and rehabilitation of psychiatric patients considered particularly difficult. The Institut welcomes patients from penal institutions and other healthcare facilities across all regions of Québec.

1971

The Institut is officially inaugurated on February 4th.

1972

Opening of the first psycho-forensic expertise units.

Opening of an adolescent unit.

1976

Affiliation agreement with the Université de Montréal.

1979

Opening of a unit to treat individuals with sexual deviance issues.
Expertise begins to be developed.

1983

Creation of the Centre de consultation externe en psychiatrie légale (CCEPL), which in 1988 will become the Centre de psychiatrie légale de Montréal.

1985

At the Institut’s initiative, the facility helps to create the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, which brings together hundreds of members from around the world.

Opening of a women’s unit.

1988

Opening of the Centre de psychiatrie légale de Montréal, which offers forensic psychiatry services in partnership with three Ministries: Public Health, Justice, and Health and Social Services. It also provides services for evaluations and the treatment of sexual deviancy.

Creation of the Clinique de dangerosité, which offers consulting services to partners in the psychiatry healthcare network. It changes its name to the Clinique d’évaluation du risque de violence in 2010.

Establishment of the Diogene Program, developed by the Institut and the Canadian Mental Health Association to ensure patients with legal, homelessness, and mental-health issues are monitored in the community.

1996

Opening of the first mixed unit (men and women)

1997

Establishment of the Urgence pscyhosociale-justice (UPS-J) to help improve the organization and delivery of services for forensic-psychiatry patients in Montréal’s Centre-Sud neighbourhood.

1998

Opening of the transition unit, enabling patients to learn about and better understand themselves in order to gain the skills needed to reintegrate into society.

1999

Dr. Lionel Béliveau leaves the Institut.

2001

First international French-language congress on sexual aggression, led by the Institut in Québec City. This congress enables practitioners to share and agree on various practices in the field.

2004

Opening of an evaluation and treatment unit for women with mental-health issues who are incarcerated in Canadian penitentiaries.

2007

Opening of the cyberpsychology lab.

2011

Opening of the Clinique Réseau jeunesse.

2012

Production of a movie about the Institut titled Pinel, by Hélène Magny and Pierre Mignault.

2013

Opening of the forensic psychiatry virtual reality immersive chamber at the Applications lab.

Screening of the movie Pinel (made in 2012) on channel RDI during their Les grands reportages segment.

2014

Book launch for Institut Philippe-Pinel : 50 ans d’histoires, by Danielle Pouliot and Dr. Frédéric Millaud.

2020

Celebrating the Institut’s 50th anniversary.