Overdue bonuses for nurses: Santé Québec challenges court ruling

Members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ) demonstrating as part of negotiations to renew their collective agreement on September 6, 2023, in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Santé Québec is challenging in Superior Court a ruling by the Administrative Labour Tribunal, which had concluded that the agency had hindered the activities of the FIQ by paying bonuses owed to nurses months late.

The Tribunal had also ordered Santé Québec to pay $50,000 in punitive damages to the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ).

The substance of the dispute concerns various bonuses for FIQ members that were negotiated during the renewal of the last collective agreement and were to be paid no later than 120 days after its signing, i.e., April 5, 2025. In many cases, they were paid months late.

In its motion, Santé Québec asserts, among other things, that it was not the entity that negotiated the collective agreement and the deadlines for paying the bonuses, but rather the Employers’ Negotiating Committee for Health and Social Services.

Santé Québec also maintains that the delay in paying the bonuses, caused by computer problems, cannot constitute an impediment to the FIQ’s activities.

- Lia Lévesque

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 16, 2026.