The “Engage Montréal: Cohort Study Highlights (2017-2023)” report is published!
Engage 2.0 and MECS: New Studies About to Launch in Montreal During Summer 2025
After wrapping up the Engage Cohort Study, which followed gay, bi, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) in Montreal from 2017 to 2023, two new studies — Engage 2.0 and MECS (Motivations, Experiences, Consumption, and Sexuality) — are getting ready to launch in 2025.
These new studies will help update our understanding of the sexual health and well-being of GBM in Montreal and will provide important and new information to support better prevention programs and services.
Participant visits are expected to begin soon. To take part, you must receive a coupon from someone already in the study. Keep an eye on this page for updates! If you have questions, contact our study team by phone or text at 438-466-9507, or by email at engagemontreal@gmail.com.
We hope to see you soon!
Why participate in Engage 2.0 and MECS?
- Get “engaged” in your sexual health by receiving a full STI screening at a testing site located in or near the Montreal Village.
- Help improve your local community’s sexual health and well-being by contributing to Montreal-based knowledge on these topics so that prevention and treatment of STI can be improved.
- Each participant is given $50 in cash for completing a study visit. They also have the opportunity to receive $15 for each additional guy that they recruit who completes the study, up to 6 men. Participants can earn up to $140 total!
What is Engage 2.0 and MECS?
- Engage 2.0 and MECS (Motivations, Experiences, Consumption, and Sexuality) are integrated studies focused on the sexual health of gay, bisexual, and queer men, both cis and trans, as well as other men who have sex with men. It is open to both men who are HIV-negative or who are living with HIV. They will build on the observations of the Engage Cohort Study, which took place in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver from 2017-2023.
- The studies are happening in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
- Like Engage 1.0, Engage 2.0 and MECS will use a type of recruitment similar to the snowball method, where participants are invited to join the studies through a coupon from someone who already participated. Guys who join will be asked to complete a questionnaire and get tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at a local testing site.
- Engage 2.0 will focus on tracking important health trends, like rates of STIs and how prevention tools like HIV PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) are being used. It will also take a closer look at doxycycline, or “doxy,” which is being used as a new way to help prevent bacterial STIs like gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. As interest in this method grows in Canada, Engage 2.0 will help provide evidence on uptake and how well it works here.
- MECS will look at how crystal meth use, sexual health, and mental health are connected. These are important issues for many in the community, and MECS will follow participants over time to better understand how these experiences change and affect each other.
How can you participate?
If you have been given a study coupon, you may be eligible to participate. Contact our study team by phone or text at 438-466-9507, or by email at engagemontreal@gmail.com to find out more and enroll.
What’s involved?
To participate, you will complete a study visit involving a few steps; in total, it should take no longer than 2-3 hours. Also, most of it can be done from your home, and consists of the following:
Enrollment (~30 mins over the phone, email, or in person)
- Study eligibility verification
- Signing of consent forms
Questionnaire (60-90 mins online)
- Confidential computer-based survey that you fill in yourself
- Questions relate to general physical, sexual, and mental health over the past 6 months
Clinical Component (~60 mins in person)
- Takes place at an STI testing site in or near the Montreal Village
- Brief STI risk questionnaire
- HIV test for HIV-negative men and viral load and CD4 count tests for men living with HIV
- Blood tests for hepatitis C and syphilis
- Gonorrhea and chlamydia tests
What happens after you participate?
Our studies use a type of recruitment similar to the snowball method, which means participants help us recruit other participants by connecting men from their social and sexual networks to the studies. Recruit up to 6 eligible men by giving them a coupon which you receive at your study visit and receive $15 for each guy recruited who completes their visit.
Engage Cohort Study 2017-2023 (Montréal)
Thank you to all who participated in Engage 1.0 from 2017-2023. Through your participation, you have contributed to a portrait of sexual health and well-being of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) in the Montréal area.
Our team will continue to work with the data we’ve collected for future publications and presentations. We encourage you to follow the work of Engage by visiting this webpage, where you can find information on new publications and presentations of study results, news items, infographics, technical summaries, and our participation in some upcoming community events! You can also subscribe to our newsletter for updates as our work continues.
If you have questions concerning the research projects or if you have a problem you think may be related to your participation in the research projects, you may communicate with the principal investigators:
Dr. Joseph Cox (514-528-2400)
Dr. Jorge Flores-Aranda (514-987-3000 x4991)
For any question concerning your rights as a research participant, comment or complaint, you may communicate with the MUHC Office of the Ombudsman.
email : ombudsman@muhc.mcgill.ca
phone: 514-934-1934 x35655
