What the GI-MAP™ measures
The GI-MAP™ is a comprehensive stool panel run by qPCR — the same DNA-amplification method used in clinical molecular testing. Rather than growing organisms on a plate and reporting whether they appeared, it quantifies the DNA of its targets, which is why results come back as numbers you can compare over time rather than a simple present-or-absent.
The panel covers more than 85 markers across four groups: bacterial, parasitic, viral and fungal pathogens; H. pylori together with its virulence factors; commensal and opportunistic gut flora; and markers of digestion, absorption and intestinal inflammation. The GI-MAP™ Standard panel covers all of it, and the GI-MAP™ with Zonulin adds a gut-barrier marker. If the question is narrower, the H. pylori profile is a focused alternative.
How ordering works from Quebec
Quebec is large and its functional-testing options are concentrated in a few centres, so the practical value of a mailed kit rises with distance from them. The process is identical province-wide: order, collect at home, mail it back.
In order: you place the order, the kit arrives at your address, you collect the sample at home on your own schedule, and you mail it to the laboratory in the return packaging. Results are sent to you when the laboratory has finished, and our contracted practitioner — Madison Ordway, FDN-P — reviews the order, so no referral from your own doctor is needed. You can also take the report to a practitioner you already work with; it is your result.
One thing worth knowing. Test reports and results are provided in English. It is worth deciding in advance who will go through them with you if you would rather do that in French.
Where the test reaches
This page covers all of Quebec, including Montreal, Quebec City, Laval, Gatineau, Longueuil, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières. Any mailing address in the area works, and there is no separate process for smaller communities.
What it costs
Prices are listed in Canadian dollars on the GI-MAP cost page, alongside what each panel includes and what it does not. If you want to see the format of the report before you decide, there is a full sample report.
GI-MAP™ Test in Quebec — Questions
Do I need a doctor's referral to order the GI-MAP™ in Quebec?
No. The test is ordered directly through this site and reviewed by our contracted practitioner, so a referral from your family doctor is not required.
Where in Quebec do I go to have the sample collected?
Nowhere — that is the point of the test. The kit is mailed to your address, you collect the sample at home following the instructions in the kit, and you mail it back to the laboratory in the packaging provided.
What does the GI-MAP™ actually measure?
It is a qPCR DNA stool panel covering 85+ markers: bacterial, parasitic, viral and fungal pathogens, H. pylori with its virulence factors, commensal gut flora, and markers of digestion, absorption and intestinal inflammation.