Name: Why many doctors are leaving Quebec — and headed for Ontario
Uploaded: 2025-11-12T01:37:05.467Z
Duration: 2 min 40 s
Description: Over 250 Quebec doctors are applying to be able to work in Ontario, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. As CBC’s Dale Manucdoc explains, the rise in applications is happening in the wake of a controversial bill reforming doctors’ pay.

Over 250 Quebec doctors are applying to be able to work in Ontario, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. As CBC’s Dale Manucdoc explains, the rise in applications is happening in the wake of a controversial bill reforming doctors’ pay.

Quebec

Quebec's passage of Bill 2, which links doctors' pay to performance targets and introduces significant penalties for non-compliance, has led to widespread protests among healthcare professionals. Many doctors have resigned or are seeking to move to other provinces, with Ontario and New Brunswick reporting a surge in licensing applications from Quebec physicians.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario noted a sharp increase in applications from Quebec doctors following the announcement of the new law. While Ontario faces its own physician shortages, officials emphasize that their goal is not to benefit at Quebec's expense. Meanwhile, legal challenges to Bill 2 are underway, but Quebec's government remains firm in its stance.

Why many doctors are leaving Quebec — and headed for Ontario

On October 25th, Quebec passed Bill 2, meant to improve access to medical services. It links portions of doctors pay to performance targets and is set to take effect January 1st. Last Friday, we were down to nine operating rooms closed out of 12 in our two main urban hospitals due to lack of nurses and yet this law too blames the physicians for this and imposes penalties on us for not meeting objectives that we just can't meet. Those penalties could be upwards of $500,000 per day on doctors who challenge the government's policies. Healthcare professionals in Quebec have since taped their mouths shut in protest and packed thousands into the Bell Centre rallying against the law. Some are already heading for the nearest exit. Sort of the standard is that physicians would give 60 days notice for any resignation to allow appropriate planning and so for us with the law coming in on January 1st, I had to make the decision very, very rapidly to submit that for November 1st. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario says between October 23rd and November 10th, 263 Quebec doctors had applied to be licensed in Ontario. In the five months prior, it had received just 19. That could be music to Premier Doug Ford's ears who just two weeks ago, knowingly or not, cited a famous drake line. Call 1-800-DOUG-FORD, all the docs and come by, call me on my cell phone, it's on the internet. Ontario faces its own healthcare system challenges with millions of residents without a family doctor. The administrative burden on family physicians and reported burnout from healthcare professionals has some fleeing the private sector. And at least your government for the moment is not calling doctors parasites, is not calling them greedy and is not saying that they're lazy and don't want to work. I'd like to stay in my region. My wife works here and her business is here. So I would like to stay here. So Ottawa is just 20 minutes across the bridge. Of the Quebec practitioners that want to work in Ontario, more than half are family doctors, while the remaining are specialists. So far, only 35 have been approved. While it might seem like a win for Ontario, given the need for physicians. Our goal is never to be benefiting from another province. Our goal is for each province to feel, all the physicians there to feel that they can be part of the process to make the healthcare system better. Meanwhile, New Brunswick has received roughly 80 applications from Quebec physicians looking to relocate. And as Quebec doctors take the province to court over the new law, its premier says his government isn't going to back down. Dale Minukdak, CBC News, Toronto.

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