MONTREAL - Quebec's general practitioners are set to receive an almost 20 per cent pay raise by 2016, bringing them close to parity with their counterparts in the rest of Canada.
Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard said the deal also includes incentives for family doctors to take on more patients, giving them the chance to increase their salaries by as much as 30 per cent. The head of the Quebec Federation of General Practitioners welcomed the agreement, which he says meets many of their key demands.
"We will progressively reduce the gap between their remuneration and those of their Canadian colleagues," Renald Dutil said Monday.
Some estimates suggest Quebec GPs make 45 per cent less than GPs outside the province.
For Couillard, the deal puts in place a framework that will allow the province to address its widespread shortage of family doctors.
"The long-term objective is for all Quebecers who are looking for a family doctor to have one," Couillard said.
"We won't get there right away. Given the number of doctors we have, we will start by targeting the people with a pressing need for a family doctor."
Along with a 19.3-per cent raise, which is to come into effect beginning next year, the agreement also includes several clauses which can be renegotiated in 2010.
There are 8,000 members of the Quebec Federation of General Practitioners.
