Quebec establishes health-care cluster in Outaouais, plans to train GPs in regional areas

(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Quebec is providing $70 million to create a health-care hub at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) and an additional $2 million to continue developing a program to train general practitioners across the Universités du Québec network, particularly in regional areas.

Premier Christine Fréchette was in Gatineau on Monday to announce the investments, accompanied by Health Minister Sonia Bélanger, Université du Québec President Alexandre Cloutier, as well as regional lawmakers and dignitaries.

The investment in the UQO health sciences hub will be used to build a facility dedicated to programs including nutrition, speech-language pathology, psychology, physical therapy, and kinesiology. Construction is scheduled to take place from January 2028 to August 2030, with the first students expected to enrol in September 2030.

One of the main goals is to provide staff for the future Outaouais University-Affiliated Hospital Centre (CHAU), a 600-bed hospital. Scheduled to open in 2032, the CHAU is a $2.5 billion project.

The investments aim to retain graduates at local institutions, given that a major concern in the Outaouais region is the exodus of health-care personnel to Ontario.

As for the general practitioner university education plan, Cloutier believes that the first cohort of family physicians could be admitted as early as 2031.

This initiative will enable future physicians to train at the Université du Québec campuses in Gatineau, Trois-Rivières, Rimouski, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, and Chicoutimi, in addition to the main campus in Montreal.

The goal is to train family physicians native to the region and thereby encourage them to remain in areas where there is a critical shortage.

- By Pierre Saint-Arnaud

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