Quebec doctor exodus: nearly 200 get licences to work in Ontario

A negotiation blitz is underway as new data show hundreds of Quebec doctors applying to practise in Ontario ahead of Bill 2.

The number of Quebec doctors who have been granted permission to work in Ontario has exploded in the past month as negotiations drag on between the provincial government and doctors’ federations over controversial salary reform.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) told CTV News on Friday that since Oct. 23, it has granted 198 certificates of registration to doctors coming from Quebec, up from 26 certificates about a month ago.

To put the numbers into perspective, the CPSO issued only 19 certificates to Quebec doctors between June 1 and Oct. 22 of last year.

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The college says it has also received a total of 382 applications for licensure since Oct. 23, 2025, when the Quebec government tabled Bill 2, which radically changes how doctors are paid and has sparked outrage among professionals in the public health-care system.

The college stressed that the data does not disclose the reasons for seeking licences to practice in Ontario.

The government passed the law by invoking closure, a parliamentary tool that limits debate on a piece of legislation and forces a swift vote.

Under the law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 10 per cent of doctors’ pay would be linked to them meeting specific performance indicators set by the government.

It would also impose steep fines, some reaching as high as $20,000, for doctors who challenge the law in a “concerted” effort.

Doctors have also been applying to work in neighbouring New Brunswick in recent weeks. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick could not be reached Friday, but on Nov. 7, the college told CTV News it had received more than 70 licence applications from Quebec doctors since the beginning of October, and so far two had been granted.

It typically receives fewer than five such applications in one month.

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Coming out of a meeting with Premier François Legault late Friday afternoon, Dr. Marc-André Amyot, the head of the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ), told reporters that he had a “productive” discussion and that he was “confident” there will be “a way forward to resolve this crisis.”

He said the province and the federation would begin a “negotiation blitz” starting Friday evening that would continue into the weekend.

Legault also met with the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ).

Legault had told Radio-Canada earlier in the day that he was open to discussing a possible increase in doctors’ compensation, which, under Bill 2, remains frozen until 2028.

Medical federations have challenged the law in court, even as negotiations continue to find an agreement before Bill 2 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

With files from The Canadian Press