L’Association multiethnique pour l’intégration des personnes handicapées (AMEIPH) is a Quebec based organization founded in 1981 by a small group of parents of Italian origin seeking services for their children with various limitations, headed by Ms. Luciana Soave, the founder.
On April 28, 1981, the Association obtained its letters patent and three months later, the Government of Canada recognized it as a charitable organization, and it received its registration number as a Quebec charitable organization.
Since then, AMEIPH has developed a unique expertise to accompany immigrants with a disability throughout the different waves of immigration that Quebec has experienced. Its expertise has been called upon many times by parliamentary commissions, notably during the project to modify the Charter of the French Language, during the Consultation Committee on accommodation practices related to cultural differences, and on the Dying with Dignity Act.
In 2006, AMEIPH was honored by the Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities with the “Prix québécois de la citoyenneté Jacques Couture”. The Association also received the first Montreal Abe-Limonchik Intercultural Award in the “organization or enterprise” category.
In 2012, as part of the “Mérites en francisation des personnes immigrantes” award from the Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities, Minister Kathleen Weil presented AMEIPH with a diploma of recognition for its commitment and the quality of the services offered by its program “Je découvre”, a very specific francization pilot project for adult immigrants with intellectual disabilities and without resources. This program was implemented in 1994 and is still active and popular at AMEIPH.
