‘Call 1-800-DOUG-FORD’: Ontario premier rolling out red carpet for fed-up Quebec doctors

Many doctors in Quebec are up in arms over a newly passed law that governs their work and salary structure, and Ontario wants to come over.

Many doctors in Quebec are up in arms over a newly passed law that governs their work and salary structure, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford is taking it as an opportunity to roll out the red carpet.

Quebec Premier François Legault, however, was not pleased with his Ontario counterpart.

More than 100 Quebec doctors have already applied to work in other provinces in recent days.

• READ MORE: What’s in Quebec’s controversial doctors’ bill?

“I’d love to! Call 1-800-DOUG FORD, all the docs,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday when asked if he would enhance recruitment efforts.

“Come by, call me on my cell phone, it’s on the internet. Come by and we’ll have you real quick. I’d love to see the doctors, nurses, anyone in healthcare come to Ontario because we’re a growing community.”

Ford’s invitation to doctors ‘unacceptable,’ Legault says

Legault reacted to Ford’s comments in a press scrum Wednesday, calling them “unacceptable” and showing a “clear lack of judgment.”

“We’re making major changes to our healthcare system. It’s emotional and it’s not easy,” he wrote on X.

“Every province is facing serious challenges in healthcare. This is not the time to be taking shots at each other, it’s time to work together.”

Ontario, New Brunswick see rise in Quebec doctors applying for licences

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario told CTV News that since Oct. 23, it has received 70 applications from Quebec doctors seeking to be licensed to work in Ontario. For comparison, the college received 19 applications between June 1 and Oct. 22.

The ones from Quebec who applied for licensure still need to be granted a certificate of registration.

Meanwhile, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick said Wednesday it has received applications from 40 Quebec doctors this month. It said it typically receives, on average, around three or four applications from Quebec in a month.

Fears of an exodus of doctors leaving Quebec surfaced on Tuesday, three days after Bill 2 was passed in the National Assembly. Doctors’ federations in Quebec are lashing out at the new law that introduces a new salary model that, in part, is linked to specific objectives set by the government, and slaps fines on doctors who challenge the new policy.

The ruling Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party invoked closure to fast-track the bill through the legislature with limited debate. All of the opposition parties present voted against the bill in a 63-27 vote.

Quebec Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez says he is worried about doctors leaving the province, calling it a catastrophe and is urging them to “stay with us.”

“Doug Ford is the happiest man on Earth these days because he has the opportunity to come and get our doctors. You see the same of the other provinces,” Rodriguez said.

He promised to rewrite the bill with doctors’ input if the Liberals come to power in the 2026 provincial election.

“Now there are things that the law will be scrapped, but there are things that we can use, and we’ll be working with [Liberal parliamentary leader] Marc [Tanguay] and the team before the election on what would be a bill, and we’ll sit down and we’ll discuss with doctors, but we cannot lose more doctors,” he said.

“We don’t need less doctors. We need more doctors, and this bill has a devastating impact on that who pays the price the patients you.”

Quebec Solidaire parliamentary leader Guillaume Cliche-Rivard also said he was “very concerned” and warned that “thousands” of Quebecers could suffer the consequences.

“I sincerely hope that doctors will remain in the network,” he said at a news conference.

Doctors are planning to hold a large rally at the Bell Centre on Nov. 9.

Faced with growing discontent, Health Minister Christian Dubé asked doctors to “take a step back” before packing their bags.

“We will be issuing publications, holding information meetings, and organizing all kinds of events over the next few days to explain the law,” he said at a news conference.

Quebec doctors express concern with new law

Dr. Raja Hatem, an interventional cardiologist, says at international conferences specialists from Quebec are often approached by recruiters, and that Bill 2 could push many to leave the province.

“I always prided myself when I went internationally, telling myself, ‘Listen, you might criticize public health care but we offer the best quality care as you do in Texas, as you do in San Francisco, as you do in New York but we do it for free for everyone,” said Dr. Hatem.

That’s something Dr. Isabelle Gaston is proud of, too, but she can only work part-time as a family physician, covering 400 patients, many of whom have complex needs.

“For my patients, it’s very important for me because I know I make a big difference. Maybe not a statistical difference in the ocean of all the doctors but nobody’s a number when you’re treating a health problem,” she said.

She continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder following the murder of her children by Guy Turcotte. By not taking on more patients, she says her pay drops from $99 per hour to $26 an hour under the new salary structure.

So, it’s no wonder provinces like Ontario and New Brunswick in need of bilingual doctors are turning to Quebec.

Dr. Hatem says some American hospitals offer specialists tempting salaries of around $1.5 million per year, but adds the working conditions are even more enticing.

“They give you the staff to be able to perform at your best level to help as many patients as you can and they give you the tools to pursue research and innovation and this is what I’m afraid we’re losing in Quebec,” the doctor said.

She warns Quebec could soon end up with fewer doctors and lower quality of care.

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With files from CTV News’ Olivia O’Malley and The Canadian Press