Finding help in Lausanne
Everything is on this page. Just scroll. Each part fits on paper: print it, hand it over, keep it in a pocket.
If you ever want help, here is where to go.
Free · No appointment · No judgement
To eat, wash, sit down somewhere warm
Le Passage
- 10 min walk down from Chauderon.
- Go in and say: “I want to talk to someone.”
If you don't want to go anywhere
Rel'aids — street social workers
- They come to you, where you are.
- They help you with the paperwork.
- You can just call and say where you are.
For treatment (methadone, medical care)
Addiction outpatient clinic
- You call yourself. No doctor needed.
For money and papers
Lausanne Social Services
Start with ONE. Any one. Today, or in a month.
Step-by-step road to recovery
Lausanne · There is no shortcut: every box depends on the one before it.
The choice
- Look at your situation as it really is. Two roads open up.
- Nobody can choose for you, and nobody can take the first step for you.
Carry on as you are
Nothing changes. The road stops here.
Build a sustainable life
Then the rest is doable. One box at a time.
Phase 1 — The basics (with social services)
- 2
Ask for social assistance
- Go to the social services office and explain your situation.
- Accept the rules: appointments kept, papers handed in, no lying.
- This is the key that opens everything else.
- 3
A roof and food
- Social services point you to shelter and meals.
- You stay as long as you need — this is not a step to rush.
- 4
A bank account
- No account means no salary paid in, no lease, no rent deposit.
- Social services help you open one.
- 5
The work permit
- Get your status in order.
- No permit means no legal contract, which means no real salary.
- 6
Health and accident insurance
- Compulsory. Covered at first — one day it will be on you.
- Budget around CHF 500 a month.
- Every insurer covers the same things: only the price differs.
Franchise CHF 300 a year. After that you pay only 10 %, capped at CHF 700 a year. A CHF 100 appointment then costs you CHF 10.
Phase 2 — Work
- 7
Build your CV
- List all of it: posts, years, kitchens, houses.
- Say that you love cooking and love watching people enjoy what you make. It's true, and it reads as true.
- 8
Find a job
- Through social services, or applying yourself: restaurants, buffets, canteens, care homes, Migros, Coop.
- Aim for full time.
Legal minimum in hospitality in 2026: CHF 3,713 a month with no qualification, plus a 13th salary. Don't sign below that.
- 9
Hold the day to day
- Keep every receipt. File every letter from the bank, the insurers, the tax office.
- Move your body: a cheap gym, or calisthenics outdoors — free, and enough.
Phase 3 — Hold on and move up
- 10
Look for your own flat — after 3 months of work
- Queues and group viewings are normal. Outside the city, 10 to 60 minutes of commute, is normal too.
- Stay in social housing until the lease is signed.
Aim for around CHF 900 in rent. Plan for the deposit (up to 3 months) and the first month up front.
- 11
Permit + job + home
- You won't be living large.
- But the lake, the parks, the festivals, the cinema, learning guitar — all of that is within reach.
- 12
Substances
- Your support comes with conditions. A relapse brings the rest down fast.
- The safest path is using nothing.
- If you do use anyway: tell your doctor, stay away from spirits, and never mix with a substitution treatment.
Cann-L, in Lausanne: regulated cannabis sales, 18 and over, resident in Lausanne, entry interview required.
- 13
After two years
- Ask for more responsibility where you are.
- Look elsewhere at the same time.
CHF 4,500 is reachable.
You're there.
Permit, job, home, papers in order. Now pass it on to the next person — someone shared this site with you.
Steps 2 to 6 are drawn as a sequence, but in practice they are circular: an address, a permit and a bank account each unlock the others. Work on all three at once, and tell social services which one is blocking the rest.
Living and working in Switzerland — the basics
Canton of Vaud · 2026 figures · Amounts change every year.
1. The permit
- Swiss or C permit: nothing to do.
- EU / EFTA: a signed work contract is enough. Then register at your commune, within 8 days.
- Contract under 12 months → L permit
- Contract of 12 months or more → B permit
- You live in France and commute in → G permit
- Non-EU: your employer applies, before you arrive. Few places, qualified profiles only.
- C permit: after 5 or 10 years. You need the language, no debts, no social assistance.
Never start working before you have the permit.
2. What comes off your salary
| Deduction | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| AVS / AI / APG | 5.3 % | State pension. Your employer pays the same again. |
| Unemployment (AC) | 1.1 % | Up to CHF 148,200 a year. |
| LPP (2nd pillar) | 3.5 % to 9 % | Pension fund. From age 25, the rate rises with age. |
| Accident (AANP) | 1 % to 1.6 % | If you work 8 hours a week or more. |
| Tax at source | varies | If you don't have a C permit. |
In total: 13 % to 18 % of your gross, before income tax.
You pay these yourself, they are not deducted:
- Health insurance: CHF 400 to 550 per month
- Serafe, radio and TV: CHF 335 a year per household
- Rent, electricity, household liability insurance (RC ménage)
Working less than 8 hours a week? Add accident cover to your health insurance.
3. Health insurance (LAMal)
- Compulsory, per person. You have 3 months to sign up, backdated to the day you arrived.
- Every insurer gives you the same thing. Only the price changes. Compare on priminfo.admin.ch.
- Franchise: between CHF 300 and 2,500 a year. Up to that, you pay everything.
- Above it, you still pay 10 % of the costs, capped at CHF 700 a year.
- The subsidy: in Vaud your premiums shouldn't exceed about 10 % of your income. Apply at the OVAM — it is not automatic.
Unpaid premiums = debt enforcement, then the blacklist: only emergencies are still treated.
4. Doctor and prescriptions
- Find a médecin de famille (GP). Call practices and ask if they are taking new patients.
- 144 = life-threatening emergency. 0848 133 133 = on-call doctor, evenings and weekends.
- The doctor gives you a prescription. You take it to a pharmacy.
- In Vaud: you get the invoice, you pay it, then you send it to your insurer. They pay back 90 %, once your franchise is used up.
- Send every invoice, even small ones. Keep everything.
5. Renting an apartment
- Where to look: homegate.ch, immoscout24.ch, comparis.ch, the agencies' own sites.
- The dossier: ID and permit, last 3 payslips, a debt-enforcement extract (extrait des poursuites) less than 3 months old — about CHF 18 — and proof of RC ménage insurance.
- The agency wants rent that is no more than a third of your gross income.
- Deposit: maximum 3 months' net rent, in a blocked account in your name. No deposit, no keys.
- Move-in inspection: write down every fault when you arrive. Anything not written down is charged to you when you leave.
- Then: register at the commune within 8 days, open your electricity account. Serafe finds you on its own.
- To leave: 3 months' notice.
6. Taxes
- No C permit: tax at source. Your employer withholds it every month. You file nothing.
- C permit or Swiss: you file every year on VaudTax. Deadline 15 March, tolerated until 30 June. You then pay in monthly instalments.
- Taxed at source with more than CHF 120,000 gross, or with wealth: you must file too. Request the forms before 31 March.
If you file, nobody withholds the tax for you. Put money aside every month.
Sources: admin.ch, vd.ch, serafe.ch, priminfo.admin.ch — 2026 figures. General rules, not your exact situation.