Long-term monitoring is critical to guide conservation strategies and assess the impacts of climatic changes and anthropogenic activities. In High Arctic ecosystems, information on distribution and population trends of plants is dramatically lacking. During two field expeditions in 2018 and 2019, we conducted a systematic floristic survey together with opportunistic collecting in the polar desert surrounding Alert (Nunavut, Canada) to update past vascular plant inventories. We recorded 58 species, of which 54 species were recorded over the last seven decades, and four species that are additions to the local flora (Draba pauciflora R. Brown, Festuca edlundiae S.G. Aiken, Consaul, & Lefkovitch, Festuca hyperborea Holmen ex Frederiksen, and ×Pucciphippsia vacillans (T. Fries) Tzvelev). With the addition of 19 species that were previously reported but not found in our survey, we estimate the species richness in the study area at 77 species.

The startling warming of the Arctic is driving important environmental changes, but vegetation responses have been spatially heterogeneous and difficult to predict. In this context, establishing new ecological baselines and initiating monitoring schemes are essential. We conducted systematic plot-based surveys in the polar desert surrounding Alert (Nunavut, Canada). We aimed at (1) identifying distinct plant communities, (2) characterizing community attributes, including diversity and abundance, as well as environmental variables associated with each community, and (3) establishing a georeferenced baseline with permanent field markers allowing robust resurveying. We used hierarchical clustering to categorize cover values of vascular plant species, cryptogams, and ground substrates from 1,320 quadrats (1 m 2 each) surveyed in 264 vegetation plots. Five plant communities were identified, with one community associated with each of the barren and mesic habitats, and three communities associated with wetlands. The mean biotic covers were generally higher at Alert (13-98%) compared to other polar deserts in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. A total of 250 quadrats from 50 vegetation plots were permanently marked, and a database describing all plots is available online. This study improves our understanding of High-Arctic plant communities and establishes an important vegetation monitoring reference at the northernmost permanently inhabited settlement on Earth. RésuméLe réchauffement sans précédent de l'Arctique entraîne des changements environnementaux importants, mais les réponses de la végétation sont spatialement hétérogènes et difficiles à prédire. Dans ce contexte, l'établissement de nouvelles bases de référence écologiques et la mise en place de programmes de suivi sont essentiels. Nous avons effectué des relevés systématiques par quadrats dans le désert polaire entourant Alert (Nunavut, Canada). Nous avions pour objectifs (1) d'identifier les communautés végétales distinctes, (2) de caractériser les attributs de chaque communauté, y compris la diversité et l'abondance, ainsi que les variables environnementales associées à chacune et (3) d'établir une base de données géoréférencée avec des quadrats marqués de façon permanente permettant un rééchantillonnage rigoureux. Nous avons utilisé une analyse de groupement hiérarchique pour catégoriser les valeurs de recouvrement des espèces végétales vasculaires, des cryptogames et des types de substrats de 1320 quadrats (1 m 2 chacun) étudiés dans 264 parcelles de végétation. Cinq communautés végétales ont été identifiées, une associée aux habitats arides, une associée aux habitats mésiques, et trois associées aux habitats humides. Les recouvrements biotiques moyens étaient généralement plus élevés dans les communautés à Alert (13 à 98%) que dans celles d'autres déserts polaires de l'archipel Arctique canadien. Au total, 250 quadrats répartis dans 50 parcelles de végétation ont été marqués avec des clous, et une base de données détaillée décrivant toutes les parcelles est ...

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In a number of countries, unemployment rates for people with psychiatric disabilities are much higher than in the general population. On the one hand, the expenses for mental health reach 3.5% of the total public health and social services budget in Québec. On the other hand, social firms (SFs) receive government subsidies. The objective was to compare public healthcare expenses for people with psychiatric disabilities who work in SFs with those associated with people with a similar condition who are looking for a job in the competitive labour market. This study followed a retrospective comparative design and considered two groups, namely: 122 employees working in SFs and 64 individuals participating in a supported employment program as job‐seekers. Two complementary datasets were used: a self‐report questionnaire and public healthcare databases. The cost analysis was performed from the perspective of the public healthcare system and included outpatient visit fees to physicians, outpatient visits to health professionals other than physicians in public healthcare centres, inpatient expenses due to hospitalisations, emergency room visits and amounts reimbursed to patients for medication. Regression analyses using generalised linear models with a gamma distribution and log link were used. Our results revealed that when controlling for sociodemographic variables (gender, age, marital status, education, physical disability), global health (EuroQol EQ‐5D‐5L), the severity of psychiatric symptoms (18‐item Brief Symptom Inventory) and self‐declared primary mental health diagnosis, annual healthcare costs paid by the public insurance system were between $1,924 and $3,912 lower for people working in SFs than for the comparison group. An explanatory hypothesis is that working in SFs could act as a substitute for medical treatments such as outpatient visits and medication use. There might be a form of compensation between supporting SFs and financing the public healthcare system, which provides valuable insights for public decision‐making.

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