Across Canada, physicians are becoming concerned about recent government actions that will affect the way that they practice. Quebec’s Bill 2, which changes the way physician compensation is calculated, is a prominent example. Physicians and their organizations are not only monitoring political developments but also beginning to raise their voices.

Bill 2, which became law in October 2025, was introduced to improve patient access to family doctors, particularly the 200,000 patients on waiting lists. This goal will be achieved, according to the provincial government, by making physicians collectively responsible for their performance.

The law overhauls the compensation structure for doctors by tying 10% of their salaries to performance targets set by the province. Payments are to be taken back if the doctors don’t meet the targets, which include ensuring that 75% of emergency department patients are seen within 90 minutes and ensuring that 97% of surgeries are completed within a year of assessment. The contract also establishes capitation, paying family physicians a fixed sum per patient.

Many Quebec clinicians say that Bill 2 shifts responsibility for improving access to care onto them, rather than addressing systemic issues like understaffing. Gabrielle Voisine, nurse practitioner who spoke at a protest in front of Quebec’s National Assembly on November 1, called the law “the final nail in the coffin of the healthcare system.”

Two medical associations, the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec and the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec, will be filing court challenges to Bill 2.

The law “risks exacerbating the sense of discouragement and disengagement” in the profession and “could push many physicians to retire early or leave Quebec for other provinces, further weakening an already strained healthcare system,” said the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in a statement.

In November, the CMA surveyed 447 doctors on their views of Quebec’s Bill 2 and other matters. About 84% of Quebec doctors responded that they don’t feel trusted or respected.

Doctors also foresee ripple effects that extend well beyond their own experience. Approximately 8 in 10 doctors believe that growing government oversight of medical practice will make it harder to recruit and retain physicians in their province. “Recruitment and retention are foundational to access. If the workforce becomes harder to maintain, there are serious reasons to believe patients will feel it, too,” the report stated.

When asked about the direct consequences of government policy for care, physicians expressed serious concern. Two thirds (66%) said these political decisions will worsen patient quality of care. Only 13% believe such decisions will improve care. The report concluded that doctors see these changes not as incremental adjustments but as decisions that could reshape how care is delivered in ways that leave patients worse off.

Evra Taylor is a widely published freelance medical writer and reporter with 20 years’ experience covering a broad range of therapeutic sectors, including family health, cardiology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, and dermatology.