Quebec has 350 more doctors now than a year ago: report

A woman speaks with a doctor. (CDC/pexels.com)

There are 350 more practicing doctors in Quebec than there were a year ago.

Despite this, the number of doctors has decreased in three of the province’s 17 regions, according to a medical workforce report by the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ).

As of March 31, 2026, there were 26,775 registered physicians, according to the CMQ.

Of this number, 23,727 were active members, and 23,288 were practicing in Quebec.

The CMQ’s annual report shows that in just over a year, 14 more physicians chose to work abroad - 425 as of Dec. 31, 2024, compared to 439 as of March 31, 2026.

Nevertheless, the total number of physicians registered with the CMQ is on the rise - 26,511 in 2025, compared to 26,106 in 2024, 25,677 in 2023 and 25,248 in 2022.

The number of registered and active physicians is also increasing - 23,288 in 2026 compared to 22,938 in 2025.

A physician is classified as “inactive” when they are retired or on parental leave, sabbatical, sick leave or a mentoring assignment.

In 2026, 3,048 registered physicians, or 11.4 per cent, were inactive, a proportion similar to the previous report, which indicated that 11.9 per cent of registered physicians were inactive.

By the regions

The number of active physicians has decreased in three regions of Quebec over the past year.

In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, there are seven fewer physicians than a year ago.

The Bas-Saint-Laurent region has lost five, and the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region now has three fewer physicians to care for its population.

However, the number of practicing physicians in Quebec has increased in the other 14 regions.

The largest increase is in Montreal, with 145 new physicians, bringing the total to 7,988.

The Capitale-Nationale region has 66 new doctors, followed by the Montérégie with 42 and the Laurentians with 35.

The regions of Laval, Lanaudière, Chaudière-Appalaches, Nord-du-Québec, Outaouais, Estrie, Mauricie and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean have seen between one and 23 new doctors in the past year.

More women

The CMQ’s report shows that 56 per cent of physicians practicing in Quebec are women, a percentage that is set to continue to rise as 67 per cent of medical students are currently women.

The average age in the profession is 48.

The oldest practicing physician will turn 94 in the coming weeks, and the youngest is 25.

Family physicians account for 46.7 per cent of the profession’s members.

The Collège des médecins has said it has no intentions of commenting on the figures, but in an email exchange with The Canadian Press, it briefly responded to the report.

“I am pleased to note that, since last year, we have 350 more physicians practicing in Quebec,” said Dr. Mauril Gaudreault, president of the CMQ. ”An increasing number of internationally-trained physicians are joining the College’s ranks: numbering 2,504, they now account for 10 per cent of all physicians registered with the College."

The data confirmed that 2,504 of the 23,288 physicians practicing in Quebec are internationally trained.

Among active physicians practicing in Quebec, 19,900 received their degrees in the province (85.4 per cent) and 798 in another Canadian province (3.4 per cent).

Additionally, 86 are graduates from the United States (0.4 per cent).

The Collège des médecins does not publish data on the number of physicians practicing in the private sector.

According to statistics from the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), in 2026, 828 physicians were practicing full-time in the private sector, slightly fewer than in 2025 (835), but more than in 2024 (733), 2023 (634) and 2022 (522).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 29, 2026.