MontrealThe agreement in principle reached between Quebec’s family doctors and the Legault government scraps penalties for doctors who miss performance targets.Obligation for family doctor groups to take on 1.2 million orphan patients by 2027 also off the tableBenjamin Shingler · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2025 9:24 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Health Minister Christian Dubé on Thursday, after announcing the tentative agreement with family doctors. (Jean-Pierre Robin/Radio-Canada)The agreement in principle reached between Quebec’s family doctors and the Legault government scraps penalties for doctors who miss performance targets, along with a host of other concessions. The Legault government will also remove all articles in the legislation containing coercive measures, as well as the system of assigning “coloured stickers” to patients based on their level of vulnerability.The tentative deal also does away with the obligation for family doctor groups, known in French as GMFs, to take on the province’s estimated 1.2 million orphaned patients by January 2027.The deal now calls for GMFs to take on 500,000 patients by next June, including 180,000 patients deemed vulnerable. This performance target is voluntary, however, and tied to incentives worth $76 million. All of these changes are conditional on the acceptance of the agreement in principle by the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) members, who have until next Friday to vote.The changes come after months of criticism about the planned reforms — including an eye-catching protest at the Bell Centre — with many doctors threatening to leave the province and clinics saying they would have to close.Details of the deal, reached Thursday, were presented to members during webinars Friday morning and obtained CBC News.Those details were first reported by La Presse. Dr. Benoit Heppell, the president of the association of family doctors in the Eastern Townships, summed up his main takeaway from the presentation with one word: collaboration.“It seems that we’re going into this collaborative mode with the government,” Heppell told Radio-Canada’s Tout un Matin.“This felt like a significant change in tone and now we have a foundation that feels more sustainable and I hope members will agree.”The CAQ government is expected to table legislation this morning that would delay the implementation of Bill 2 until Feb. 28. The bill will be amended with the changes outlined in the agreement if approved by doctors. Results of the vote among doctors is expected to be announced next Friday, Dec. 19.WATCH | Reaction to the tentative deal:Family doctors, Quebec government strike tentative deal over Bill 2 after standoffQuebec family physicians have reached a tentative agreement over the government’s controversial legislation that ties doctors’ pay to performance targets. The details haven’t been made public yet.ABOUT THE AUTHORBenjamin Shingler is a reporter based in Montreal covering social issues and Quebec politics. He previously worked at The Canadian Press and the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, and is an alumnus of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. He can be reached at benjamin.shingler@cbc.ca.
Quebec scraps penalties for family doctors, obligations tied to patient load in tentative deal
