Quebec health minister tables bill that would link doctors’ salaries to their performance

Quebec tabled a new bill Thursday that would link family doctors' pay with their performance.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government says it wants to “take back management rights” to force doctors to take on more patients by linking part of their remuneration to their performance.

On Thursday, Health Minister Christian Dubé unexpectedly tabled Bill 106 in the middle of negotiations to renew the framework agreement with two medical federations.

The bill was very poorly received by doctors, who described it as “special legislation.” It was not recommended by the government’s committee of experts, which studied access to primary care, according to La Presse.

The official opposition in the National Assembly said it believed the government was looking for “negotiation leverage.”

After promising a family doctor for every Quebecer, the Legault government is now promising that every Quebecer will have access to a care environment, such as a family medicine group, by 2026.

According to the government, some 1.5 million Quebecers do not have a regular doctor or healthcare professional, which corresponds to 17 per cent of the population. Of this number, 590,000 are considered vulnerable.

Bill 106 introduces a number of key principles, starting with the collective responsibility of doctors to take on more patients and the obligation of territorial departments to share them out.

• READ MORE: Legault government wants to bring Quebec doctors into line

It also introduces a change in remuneration for front-line doctors: from now on, they will be paid on a capitation, fee-for-service and hourly basis.

The law currently allows only fee-for-service remuneration, which the government argues does not encourage collaborative working or the management of complex, heavy cases.

Bill 106 would make it possible to link a quarter of the remuneration of general practitioners and specialists to performance indicators to be determined at a later date.

Several elements of the bill depend on the outcome of negotiations with the two medical federations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 8, 2025.