Digital health records: Quebec authorizes an additional investment of $95 million

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube responds to the Opposition during question period at the legislature in Quebec City, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Quebec is injecting an additional $95 million into the Digital Health Record (DSN) program led by Santé Québec.

The decision was approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, according to The Canadian Press.

The additional funds will be used to train and support health-care network staff so they can learn how to use the new tools, confirmed Health Minister Christian Dubé’s office.

He said he had obtained several guarantees from Santé Québec, which has committed to closely monitoring the rollout of the DSN.

In particular, the agency has made the following commitments to the minister:

• Strengthen project monitoring mechanisms;
• Tighten governance committees;
• Collaborate more closely with the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital Technology;
• Hold monthly meetings of the monitoring committee;
• Jointly monitor performance indicators with stakeholders.

Since the SAAQclic scandal, the government has reportedly increased its vigilance with regard to IT projects.

“We said it before: there was no question of adding money without the necessary assurances,” Dubé’s office said in a message sent to The Canadian Press on Thursday.

“The DSN is an essential tool for both doctors and patients. It will reduce paperwork, improve the flow of care and give patients easy access to their medical information.”

The DSN is intended to centralize all patient clinical data, including appointments and prescriptions.

The cost overrun was due to an error by the Ministry of Health; Radio-Canada reported in June that the ministry had forgotten to budget for staff training costs.

“This is not a minor oversight. It’s fundamental, it’s basic,” Liberal health spokesperson Marc Tanguay said in a written statement on Thursday.

“When you launch a digital project like this without even thinking about training the people who are going to use it, it’s not just a mistake, it’s amateurism across the board.

“The result: an initial additional cost of $95 million for Quebecers. This is yet another example of poor planning. Quebec is poorly managed under the Coalition Avenir Québec,” he argued.

It should be noted that the DSN will be rolled out in stages; pilot projects are planned for this fall in the CIUSSSes in the North Island of Montreal and Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Québec.

However, these may be affected by pressure tactics from medical specialists, who are fiercely opposed to Dubé’s Bill 106 on the method of remuneration for physicians.

In January 2024, the Ministry of Health estimated the cost of the DSN at $1.5 billion for the whole of Quebec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 21, 2025.