More than 260 Quebec doctors apply for Ontario licenses in the weeks after Bill 2
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According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, more than 250 Quebec doctors are applying to be able to work in Ontario. The increase in applications comes in the wake of a controversial bill to improve doctors’ pay, which was passed in Quebec on Oct. 25.
In just two weeks, the CPSO saw 13 times more applicants than the total it received from June 1 to October 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 certification, CPSO said.
“More than half of these applicants are family physicians, while the remainder practice in a wide 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 tied 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 government policies.
The CPSO said the doctors did not cite reasons for their applications and said not all applications would be granted certificates, as some could be withdrawn or cancelled.
Until last summer, approx. 2.5 million Ontarians Were without a family doctor. Premier Doug Ford recently promoted The Quebec doctor wanted to leave the province to call the hotline and was told he would get it done “really quickly.”
Law’s ‘gag order effects’ are pushing doctors out in Ontario
Dr. Trevor Hennessy, head of the anesthesiology department at the Center for Integrated Health and Social Services in the Outaouais region, resigned last week. He is considering moving to Ontario, since he is already certified to practice in the province, but said he has not decided yet.
After years of raising awareness about the lack of staff and resources that hamper health care, Bill 2 was the last straw, Hennessey said.
Bill 2, adopted into law last month, which imposes a new pay structure on physicians, has forced hundreds of doctors in Quebec to apply for work in other provinces. The College of Physicians of Ontario reported receiving 250 applications from Quebec doctors since Oct. 23.
Hennessy said doctors have no control over most of the elements needed to meet the bill’s patient goals, such as emergency room stretchers, triage nurses and medical technicians.
The resources to achieve those needs are “completely under the control of the government,” Hennessy said.
“This legislation is trying to put the blame for the system’s failures on the shoulders of physicians by saying we don’t want to work or we’re lazy and we’re greedy,” he told CBC Radio. metro morning,
He said the “potential gag order effect” of the law is pushing doctors to Ontario, despite similar difficulties with staffing and resources. Hennessy said there is still confusion about what is considered “joint action,” but it is possible that two doctors discussing changing their practice could be fined.
Hennessy described the law as “draconian,” saying, “In Ontario, at least for now, we can still talk to our colleagues about the conditions.”
He said he reached out to the Ottawa hospital to inquire about working, but said they were already “inundated” with applications from Quebec.
Doctors are needed in both provinces
The Ontario Medical Association said it stands with colleagues in Quebec and that governments must work with doctors to best serve patients.
“The OMA supports efforts to improve physician mobility, but it should 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.
About 13,000 medical professionals and supporters rallied at the Bell Center in Montreal to urge the CAQ government of François Legault to suspend the law imposing a pay structure on physicians.
Following the introduction of Bill 2, associations representing Quebec’s general practitioners, specialists and medical students put forward legal challenges,
Prime François Legault’s office said in a statement to CBC Toronto that they have reached out to doctors’ unions to discuss next steps.
“But we’re not going to step back from what’s necessary. We’re doing this for Quebecers,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement Monday.
According to Legault’s office, the changes are intended to improve patients’ access to family doctors.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé, who initially introduced the bill, declined to comment on individual doctors’ decisions, but said in a statement from his office that it shares doctors’ concerns about how their practices and compensation will change.
“Quebec needs all its doctors,” the statement said.
