Bélanger to closely monitor new pressure tactics from specialist doctors federation

Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services Sonia Bélanger says she hopes that patients will not be affected by new pressure tactics implemented by medical sp

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Sonia Bélanger, hopes that patients will not be affected by the new pressure tactics to be implemented by medical specialists starting on Monday.

The Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ) announced that, starting on March 16, its members will stop offering appointments through the platform of the Centre de répartition des demandes de service (CRDS). The CRDS is an appointment centre that distributes consultation requests from general practitioners and nurse practitioners to medical specialists.

Bélanger, who was visiting Beloeil, in the Montérégie region, on Friday for an announcement regarding home care services, said she will monitor the situation closely once the pressure tactic is implemented.

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“The Federation, as a union, can use pressure tactics, but for the people who have registered with the CRDS and been assigned an appointment with a specialist … it’s a good system that needs improvement, to be sure, but what I hope is that people who have already secured an appointment won’t have their appointments canceled.”

A ‘completely dysfunctional’ platform

Dr. Vincent Oliva, president of the FMSQ, had however clarified when announcing the new pressure tactic two weeks ago that, to date, only 20 per cent of appointments go through the CRDS — a proportion the government would like to increase to 100 per cent. Health-care professionals referring patients to specialists will have to do so directly via email, for example.

Dr. Oliva had stated at the time that he believed the pressure tactic would have no negative effect on patients, going so far as to assert that the impacts could, on the contrary, be rather positive because the CRDS platform has always been “completely dysfunctional,” he said.

Three weeks ago, the FMSQ announced further pressure tactics, namely the suspension of specialist physicians’ participation in the Digital Health Record (DSN) and in medical-administrative activities.

Minister Bélanger also declined to shed light on the ongoing negotiations with the FMSQ, reiterating that it is not she, but her colleague at the Treasury Board, France-Élaine Duranceau, who is at the negotiating table. She says she is following the negotiations very closely, but adds that “what is taking up a lot of my time is the agreement with the FMOQ [Federation of General Practitioners], which was reached on December 12. So, we are in the midst of implementing that agreement with the FMOQ.”

“As for the FMSQ, my hope is that an agreement is reached as quickly as possible and, above all, that their pressure tactics do not impact services.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 13, 2026.

Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press