5 Quebec regions must now stop using health care employment agencies

Health care establishments in five regions of Quebec’s public network have until Monday, inclusively, to end their use of private placement agencies.

The regions concerned include the urban centers of Montreal, Capitale-Nationale, Chaudière-Appalaches, Laval and the Montérégie.

The use of private agencies in these regions was due to end on Oct. 20, 2024, but Health Minister Christian Dubé granted them a reprieve until the end of March.

Last August, when the minister announced that there would be a postponement, he said that staff in the field were asking for “flexibility” to ensure a “better coordinated” transition.

“We’re adapting for patients and staff. It’s the right thing to do. We are pursuing our objective while continuing to offer safe care to the population,” he said in a press release.

The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) has been calling for an end to the use of private agencies for years, maintaining that, “without an effective hiring and retention strategy,” the transition “risks exacerbating the current crisis in the health care network.”

The FIQ, which represents the majority of nurses in all Quebec health care establishments, points out that recruitment remains a major challenge in the public network.

According to FIQ President Julie Bouchard, ending the use of agencies must go hand in hand with investments aimed at stabilizing teams and ensuring staff retention.

“We absolutely must offer predictable schedules to better reconcile personal life and work, put an end to job cuts and hiring freezes, and above all, value the expertise of care professionals to avoid a new exodus,” she stressed in a press release on Monday.

The “adjoining” territories of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec, Estrie, Laurentides and Lanaudière have until October to stop using agency workers.

The government has given until October 2026 to stop using agencies in “remote” regions including Bas-Saint-Laurent, Outaouais, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Nord-du-Québec, Gaspésie, Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Nunavik.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 31, 2024.