Who we are
A student-led non-profit, jointly supervised by faculty cardiologists at McGill, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and Université de Sherbrooke. Sixty-three medical-trainee volunteers as of the 2025 cohort. Zero paid staff.
CAPIOCAPIOCardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for nearly 20 million deaths each year. (WHO) Yet, it is largely preventable. Many young adults are unaware of their cardiovascular risk factors or those of their close family members. Without this knowledge, they lack the tools to take proactive steps towards protecting their heart health.
A student-led non-profit, jointly supervised by faculty cardiologists at McGill, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and Université de Sherbrooke. Sixty-three medical-trainee volunteers as of the 2025 cohort. Zero paid staff.
Free, faculty-supervised cardiovascular screenings — blood pressure, lipid panel, A1C, intake — in community settings across the four partner-university regions. Every result that warrants follow-up is hand-walked into the clinical network.
Most cardiovascular risk is detected long before it becomes a clinical event — but only if someone takes the reading. We meet people where they already are, in the languages they actually speak, and we close the loop on every borderline result with a 14-day phone call.
A pilot screening at a Plateau community centre — 47 attendees, 3 referrals.
Six clinics across the Estrie region. The borderline-reading follow-up call protocol is introduced.
First province-wide annual report. The four-faculty supervisory board convenes.
A research arm publishes early findings on a Quebec-specific risk model.
Cardiovascular Assessment, Prevention, and Intervention Organization. The acronym is also the programme: every clinic delivers all three.
No. CAPIO is a community-screening and referral organization. We deliver assessments in non-clinical spaces — community centres, libraries, places of worship — and connect anyone whose result warrants follow-up to the clinical network of our partner universities. We do not bill insurance and we do not replace your physician.
Operating costs are covered by donations from the public, grants from the partner universities, and a small annual envelope from the Quebec Ministry of Health. Every screening is free at the point of delivery; we will never ask for your RAMQ card to access services.
Yes. Every student volunteer is a third- or fourth-year medical trainee at one of the four partner universities, has completed the CAPIO screening protocol training (16 hours, including OSCE-style sign-off), and works under the on-site supervision of a faculty cardiologist or internal-medicine attending.
French and English at every clinic. Where we know in advance that a community speaks a third language (most often Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin, or Cree), we bring a community interpreter. We will never refuse a screening because of language.
Only with your written, voluntary consent. If you ask us to send your screening report to a primary-care provider you nominate, we will. Otherwise, the printed sheet you leave with is the only copy that exists.
Yes — we work with community centres, places of worship, employee groups, and CIUSSS partners across Quebec. The request form takes about ten minutes and we typically schedule six to ten weeks out. We prioritize neighbourhoods with limited primary-care access.
We do not employ paid staff. Faculty and student involvement is unpaid and structured through the four partner universities. If you are a Quebec medical student, we open a new cohort each September; see the Team page.