More than 1,000 Quebec doctors left public sector; advocates blame Bill 83, resources shortages

Over 1,000 Quebec doctors left the public system in 2025.

More than 1,000 doctors have left Quebec’s public health-care system and one advocate attributes the departures to a lack of resources and recent government reforms.

Recent data from Quebec’s health insurance board, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), shows that since March 2025, 1,064 doctors were listed as “non-participating,” meaning they didn’t bill the province but instead charged patients directly.

The number is the highest recorded since 2019, when only 460 doctors left the public system.

Dr. Xavier Gauvreau, with Quebec Doctors for the Public Healthcare, an advocacy group, said the figure was alarming but not surprising, adding that the upward trend has been building for years.

A major pressure point for physicians is Bill 83, which requires all new doctors to work in the public system for at least five years before moving to the private system.

“All those bills, the fear that we have is that it will accelerate the exodus of doctors to, either private care or to leave the province,” Gauvreau said.

Quebec’s Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) agrees. In a statement to CTV News, the FMSQ said the departures are directly linked to a lack of resources and Bill 83, and that the province is to blame.

“If we talk about specialists, we hear a lot about surgeons going to the private sector because they cannot operate. They don’t have operating hours. Well, it’s because our operating rooms are not open,” Gauvreau explained.

The Federation of Family Doctors (FMOQ) did not respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Sonia Belanger’s office told CTV News that career decisions are complex and influenced by many factors, noting that medical admissions were increased years ago so that more doctors could start practicing starting this year.

The government also pointed to Bill 83 as a measure to improve care.

But Gauvreau warned that if the trend continues, it will be patients who will feel the consequences.