EAP leader Morneau Shepell acquires Quebec-based Jacques Lamarre & Associates and Parcours d'enfant

Acquisition of one of province's largest EAP providers significantly expands EAP services for Quebec organizations

TORONTO, Sept. 30, 2011 /CNW/ - Morneau Shepell Inc., the leading provider of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) in Quebec and nationally, today announced that it has acquired one of the largest EAP services providers in the province, Quebec-based Jacques Lamarre & Associates and Parcours d'enfant. Together we will offer a broad portfolio of EAP solutions that complements Morneau Shepell's existing suite of EAP counselling, work/life and child-focused services. Through this acquisition, Morneau Shepell will serve over 900 clients and more than 1.4 million employees and their families in Quebec. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Morneau Shepell.

"Today's acquisition represents a strategic commitment to significantly expand both our EAP presence and our solution portfolio in the province of Quebec," said Julien Ponce, Executive Vice President, Quebec/East Region, Morneau Shepell. "As the largest EAP provider in Quebec, we are strengthening our EAP capabilities to better meet the health and well-being needs of Quebec's public, para-public and private sector organizations and their employees."

Stephen Liptrap, Executive Vice-President, Morneau Shepell and General Manager of Shepell-fgi added that, "Sylvain Authier, President of Jacques Lamarre & Associates, and his leadership team bring to our organization, extensive knowledge of the Quebec market. This expertise further builds on our EAP leadership across Canada, and gives Morneau Shepell the ability to deliver a broader suite of EAP solutions to both current and future clients in Quebec".

Sylvain Authier, DBA, sees this merger as a major step forward for Quebec's EAP market.  "Joining with Canada's EAP leader will enable our clients to leverage Morneau Shepell's expertise and experience in developing and delivering not only innovative EAP services but also a broader range of services."

The EAP solution portfolio provided by Jacques Lamarre & Associates includes a full range of support services to address the health, well-being and productivity needs of individuals and organizations. Parcours d'enfant offers a unique, multi-disciplinary approach to identifying, assessing, and assisting children and adolescents as they grow and develop. It has a deep understanding of issues that can affect all aspects of a child's development: cognitive, language, motor, social and/or emotional.

About Morneau Shepell

Morneau Shepell Inc. is the largest Canadian based human resources consulting and outsourcing firm focused on pension, benefit, employee assistance programs and workplace health and productivity solutions. We offer solutions to assist employers in supporting the financial security, health and productivity of their employees. With approximately 2,500 employees in offices across North America, we provide services to organizations across Canada, in the United States and around the globe.

About Jacques Lamarre & Associates

Jacques Lamarre & Associates, with approximately 50 employees and a network of 1500 counselors, specializes in assistance programs, crisis management and organizational intervention. Jacques Lamarre & Associates offers a variety of EAP programs to promote prevention of personal work-related problems that can impact an employee's health, psychological balance or performance at work. The Parcours d'enfant team takes a multi-disciplinary approach to help identify, assess and assist children and adolescents as they grow and develop. The team also works with parents and families, private and public schools, early childhood centres and child care facilities, health networks and indigenous communities.