Tique Watch QC
A French-language tick-bite early-warning app for Quebec outdoor enthusiasts that sends seasonal alerts when entering a high-risk zone, guides users through safe tick removal, and tracks bite sites for follow-up symptoms.
Hikers, campers, and cottagers in Quebec who spend time in tick habitat and want a preventive companion rather than a diagnostic one
- Geofenced push alerts when entering a documented high-risk tick zone
- Step-by-step tick removal guide with photo capture of the bite site
- Symptom check-in reminders at 7, 14, and 30 days post-bite
- Seasonal risk briefing pulled weekly from INSPQ and Quebec public health bulletins
Vanessa Pilon's diagnosis has made Lyme a household topic in Quebec, and prevention-focused tools are underserved compared with diagnostic ones.
Real engagement exists: eTick has logged 103,624 submissions since 2017 with 1,247 from Quebec already in 2026, and MSSS issued a public tick-bite warning in June 2025 — but most activity is funneled into free identification/surveillance tools rather than a personal prevention companion.eTick - public platform for image-based identification and population monitoring of ticks in Canada ↗Piqûres de tiques et moustiques - MSSS ↗
eTick (Bishop's University + INSPQ + provincial health partners) is a strong free incumbent offering a mobile app, photo ID, tick-removal instructions, and a TickTOOL protection guide — much of the proposed surface area is already covered; differentiation comes mainly from Quebec-specific geofenced seasonal alerts and bite-site symptom tracking.eTick - Submit Ticks / Mobile App / TickTOOL ↗Outils de sensibilisation et de prévention de la maladie de Lyme en milieu de travail - INSPQ ↗
Willingness to pay is weak: eTick is free and academically/government-funded, Quebec.ca and INSPQ publish free prevention guides, and AQML offers free support — a paid consumer app would compete against heavily subsidized free alternatives in a niche outdoor-rec market.Se protéger et protéger ses animaux des piqûres de moustiques et de tiques - Quebec.ca ↗Association québécoise de la maladie de Lyme | AQML ↗
Strong long-term tailwind: tick range is expanding northward in Quebec with rising annual case counts, MSSS treats it as a recurring seasonal public-health issue, and Lyme prevention has become a recurring media topic (e.g., the cited Vanessa Pilon trend).Lyme disease: Monitoring - Canada.ca (28,033 human cases reported 2009–2025) ↗Avant qu'une tique vous pique... - Publications du MSSS ↗
Straightforward to build: standard mobile stack with geofencing, push notifications, camera, and local symptom-logging; no novel AI required, and public tick-risk datasets (eTick, INSPQ) are available as data sources.eTick - Identified Tick Records Map (open data) ↗