Getting an adult ADHD diagnosis in Quebec: RAMQ, the GAP, private clinics — my 8-month journey
Eight months. That's the headline. Montréal, 30F, no family doctor, here's the whole saga so yours might be shorter.
Registered with the GAP immediately — took months to even get an intake call, and ADHD is visibly not their priority tier. Used the wait: dug up old report cards ("talks constantly, does not finish her work" — grade 4 teacher, you're a legend, unknowingly writing my evidence file 20 years early), kept a symptom journal.
Eventually went private: psychologist assessment, $1,600, partially reimbursed through work insurance. Then — the step nobody explains — the psychologist report alone prescribes nothing. Needed a private-practice physician to review it and initiate treatment. RAMQ covered none of the private route, but the public drug plan does cover my meds now, with a deductible.
Advice, distilled: start the GAP clock on day one. Then plan as if it will never call.
2026-07-19 19:18930 views
3 Comments
FasTreat Team
Factual anchors for this thread (Quebec): the GAP is the public entry point without a family doctor — wait times vary, registration is free and stacks with any parallel private steps. A psychologist's report alone doesn't enable prescribing; a physician or NP initiates treatment — hence the 'prescriber corridor' question above being the highest-value pre-payment ask. RAMQ's public drug plan covers several ADHD medications with a deductible and monthly maximum; private group plans vary. Physician-led telehealth assessment is also an option in Quebec — ours included, stated for transparency. General information, not medical advice.
2026-07-20 23:32 867 views
emails_unread_847
The grade-4 report card as evidence file is universal, apparently ('disrupts the class, potential not being met,' 1999, my whole personality notarized). Nearly identical path — except my psychologist had an arrangement with a partner physician for prescribing, which skipped the entire 'find a doctor who'll act on the report' stage. The question to ask BEFORE paying for any private assessment: 'do you have an established corridor to a prescriber?' It changes the whole journey.
2026-07-21 08:42 847 views
laundry_chair_phd
Eight months here too, within a month. Confirming your final advice with a plot twist: the GAP called me back three months AFTER my private diagnosis. Kept the public appointment anyway for long-term follow-up — private to unblock, public to endure, recommended strategy. On meds: RAMQ public plan, roughly $90/month with the deductible until you hit the monthly cap, then it drops.
2026-07-21 04:11 836 views
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