Dubé had considered limiting doctors' access to the private sector as early as 2023

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé

Isabelle Porter in Quebec City

Published at 12:24 PM Updated at 3:29 PM

• Québec

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The idea of ​​requiring young doctors to practice in the public network is not new: Health Minister Christian Dubé considered including it last year in his Bill 15 on Santé Québec.

The minister’s office indicated that the measure had been “discussed” before being shelved. Tabled in March 2023, Bill 15 defined the contours of the future Santé Québec agency.

On Sunday, Minister Dubé’s office announced that it would require doctors who graduated in Quebec to complete their first years of practice in the public network. A bill to this effect will be tabled soon. However, the minister and his team would not say for how many years young doctors would not be allowed to practice in the private sector. “We will specify this in the bill, it will be tabled in the coming weeks,” said his press attaché Audrey Noiseux.

The Collège des médecins du Québec, for its part, suggested a period of five to ten years.

During the debates on Bill 15, the Fédération des médecins résidents du Québec objected to the minister imposing new conditions on residents to practice, including four-year stints in certain facilities.

However, contrary to what an earlier version of this text suggested, this requirement concerned regional medical staffing plans (PREM) in the region and was not intended to limit private practice.

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