OttawaMore than two dozen doctors in the Outaouais say they’re considering leaving their practices and beginning new ones in Ontario, with one saying the Quebec government is making it more difficult for physicians to treat their patients.They say Quebec’s family doctor strategy will backfireKimberley Molina · CBC News · Posted: Oct 26, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesDr. Mélanie Lacasse has said, despite having practiced her whole career in the Outaouais, she’s seriously considering leaving her 700 patients and moving across the river to Ottawa to restart. (Anne-Charlotte Carignan/Radio-Canada)There is again anger and talk of leaving Quebec among some doctors in the Outaouais after the province passed legislation early Saturday to change their pay and halt what it sees as pressure tactics.François Legault’s government tabled Bill 2 Friday morning and passed it less than 24 hours later. It comes on the heels of anger over Bill 106, which was previously tabled in May. That bill would link physician pay to performance indicators to get them to take on heavier patient loads and get more people a family doctor.Bill 106 was introduced after the province tabled its fourth offer amid stalled negotiations and pressure tactics by doctors and medical specialists, who have been without a contract since 2023.Physicians against Bill 106 say that would incentivize a dangerous focus on quantity of care rather than quantity. Last week, Quebec family doctors stopped teaching their medical students in protest, following the lead of medical specialists. Now Bill 2 introduces significant penalties for those who take part in “concerted actions” such as withholding training.Health Minister Christian Dubé said the government had no choice but to ”draw a line” to make sure Quebecers receive care. Two medical federations said they would file legal challenges.”It’s a bad way to get the patients to have a service that they need. The result will be a decrease of services, especially here in the Outaouais,” said Marcel Guilbault of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec, which is one group threatening a challenge.”Doctors will probably find a way to go to Ottawa because Ottawa is searching for 270 doctors. It’s a lot of doctors.”The lure of OntarioGuilbault said he knows of at least one physician who has already made the move to Ottawa, while a recent survey heard 33 Outaouais physicians plan to head across the river and another 100 or so are considering it.The idea some family doctors in the Outaouais are considering retirement or this move would be “catastrophic” for a region already in need of family physicians, he said.”We should be focused on retaining these doctors, training more, attracting some of the Ontario doctors back to Quebec instead of demobilizing them, sending them towards retirement or towards Ontario,” said Liberal Pontiac MNA André Fortin.Quebec Liberal MNA André Fortin during question period on Nov. 19, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)“We have doctors who have written to us in the last few days, saying ‘I am taking a position at [the] Montfort Hospital, I’m taking a position at one of the Ottawa hospitals,'” Fortin said.”That’s something that’s going to lead to patients not having their doctors anymore in the region and it’s completely, 100% government driven.”‘So many patients will now be orphans’Dr. Mélanie Lacasse, who studied in Ottawa and has spent her entire career in Gatineau, said she is still pondering the move.“I think it’s going to be a disaster and I’m really afraid for myself, as a physician, but also for my patients and for all the patients of the region because [the premier] destroying the health care system,” she said.She said older physicians in the region will likely retire if they don’t like the new law.“We will have so many patients that will now be orphans,” she said.If the Legault government forces physicians to see more patients without needed staff and equipment, she said they’ll become exhausted.ABOUT THE AUTHORKimberley Molina is a reporter with a focus on health-related stories for CBC Ottawa. She can be reached at kimberley.molina@cbc.ca.TwitterWith files from Radio-Canada’s Fatoumata Traore
Western Quebec physicians eye up Ottawa as province forces new deal
