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Over 250 Quebec doctors are applying to be able to work in Ontario, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. The surge of applications is happening in the wake of a controversial bill reforming doctors’ pay, which was passed on Oct. 25 in Quebec.
In just over two weeks, the CPSO saw over 13 times more applicants than the 19 total received from June 1 to Oct. 22 this year, according to data provided in a statement to CBC Toronto.
As of Monday morning, 263 Quebec doctors had applied to be licensed in Ontario since Oct. 23, according to the statement. Of those 263 applicants, 35 have been approved for certificates, the CPSO said.
“More than half of these applicants are family physicians, while the remainder practice across a broad range of specialties, including general practice, pediatrics, radiology, anesthesiology and others,” the statement said.
Quebec’s Bill 2, which is set to take effect in the new year, links doctors’ compensation to performance targets relating to the number of patients they care for. It also imposes fines of up to $500,000 per day on doctors who take “concerted action” to challenge the government’s policies.
The CPSO said the doctors did not cite reasons for their application and said not all the applications will be granted a certificate, as some may be withdrawn or cancelled.
As of last summer, about 2.5 million Ontarians were without a family doctor. Premier Doug Ford recently encouraged Quebec doctors wanting to leave the province to call a hotline and said he would have them working “real quick.”
Law’s ‘gag order effects’ pushing doctors to Ontario
Dr. Trevor Hennessey, chief of the department of anesthesiology at the Integrated Health and Social Services Centre in the Outaouais Region, resigned last week. He’s considering moving to Ontario, as he is already certified to practice in the province, but said he hasn’t decided.
After years of raising awareness about staff and resource shortages impeding health care, Bill 2 was the last straw, Hennessey said.
WATCH | Hundreds of Quebec doctors looking for work out-of-province:
New law causes hundreds of Quebec doctors to apply for work in other provinces
Bill 2, adopted into law last month that imposes a new salary structure on physicians, has caused hundreds of doctors in Quebec to apply for work in other provinces. The College of Physicians of Ontario has reported receiving 250 applications from Quebec doctors since Oct. 23.
Hennessey said doctors have no control over most elements needed to meet the bill’s patient targets, like emergency room stretchers, triage nurses and medical technicians.
The resources to obtain those necessities are “fully under the control of the government,” Hennessey said.
The law is “trying to pass the blame for the failings of the system onto the shoulders of physicians by saying we don’t want to work or we’re lazy and we’re greedy,” he told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.
He said the “potential gag order effects” of the law are pushing doctors to Ontario, despite similar difficulties with staffing and resources. Hennessey said there’s still confusion about what is considered “concerted action,” but it’s possible two doctors discussing changing their practice could be fined.
“In Ontario, at least for now, we can still speak to our colleagues about the situations,” Hennessey said, calling the law “draconian.”
He said he reached out to inquire about working at the Ottawa Hospital, but said they were already “inundated” with applications from Quebec.
Doctors needed in both provinces
The Ontario Medical Association said it stands with colleagues in Quebec and that governments should work with doctors to best serve patients.
“The OMA supports efforts to improve physician mobility, but this must never come at the expense of patient access or the stability of another province’s health system,” it said in a statement to CBC Toronto.
WATCH | About 13,000 rally in Montreal to protest Quebec law changing how doctors are paid:
Thousands pack Bell Centre to protest against Quebec law that changes how doctors are paid
About 13,000 medical professionals and supporters rallied at the Bell Centre in Montreal urging François Legault’s CAQ government to suspend a law that imposes a salary structure on physicians.
Following Bill 2’s introduction, federations representing Quebec’s general practitioners, specialists and medical students put forward legal challenges.
Premier François Legault’s office said in a statement to CBC Toronto that they have reached out to doctors’ federations to discuss next steps.
“But we’re not going to back down on what’s essential. We’re doing this for Quebecers,” the premier’s office said in the statement on Monday.
The changes aim to improve patients’ access to family doctors, according to Legault’s office.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé, who initially tabled the bill, declined to comment on the decisions of the individual doctors, but a statement from his office says it shares doctors’ concern about how their practices and compensation will change.
“Quebec needs all of its doctors,” the statement reads.
