‘Financial incentives’: Legault changes his tune when speaking to doctors
Posted December 9, 2025 4:10 pm.
Premier François Legault is now emphasizing “financial incentives” as his government looks to break the impasse with Quebec’s doctors.
Speaking to reporters in Rouyn-Noranda on Tuesday, Legault revisited his recent meetings with the heads of the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) and the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ).
“I remain optimistic and hopeful that we can reach an agreement very soon,” he said. “What we’re asking of them is to take on more patients (…) and we’re prepared to offer financial incentives in exchange.”
It is the second time in recent days the premier has spoken of financial incentives for doctors.
On Friday, during Radio-Canada’s” political program La parole aux mordus de politique, Legault said he was open to discussing a possible pay increase with the federations to help resolve the dispute.
“If they take on 500,000 more patients (…) there could be some reasonable openings,” Legault told host Sébastien Bovet when asked if he was willing to raise physician compensation.
However, the Legault government’s recently adopted Bill 2 ties 10 per cent of physician pay to performance targets and effectively freezes the overall compensation envelope until 2028.
Medical federations have launched legal challenges to the law, while hundreds of doctors are now threatening to leave Quebec or close their clinics.
Despite this, both sides are still trying to find a path forward before Jan. 1, 2026, the date the law comes into effect.
“I think what we’re asking of doctors is reasonable. It doesn’t warrant closures,” Legault said Tuesday.
– This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
