Ban non-participant status in the public system: Quebec college of physicians

A doctor wears a stethoscope around his neck as he tends to patients in his office. Quebec's College of Physicians says that the province should ban non-participant status. (Jeff Roberson / The Canadian Press) (Jeff Roberson/AP)

The Quebec College of Physicians says that measures such as forcing young doctors to practice at least five years in the public system would no longer be necessary if Quebec banned non-participant status in the public health system, as Ontario does.

College president Dr. Mauril Gaudreault made the statement on Tuesday while appearing before the parliamentary committee studying Bill 83, which would require new doctors to work five years in the public sector.

He also proposed suspending the expansion of medicine to the private sector “until a more rigorous professional and legal framework is put in place.”

Before the college, the Canadian Medical Association had instead advocated for correcting the irritants that make the public network unattractive and that make doctors prefer to practice in the private sector, whether it be delays in implementing IT, lack of access to operating rooms, lack of nurses, for example.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 11, 2025.