Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said in November 2024 that the province wanted every resident to have access to a health professional by summer 2026. The revised goal was broader than a previous promise of a family doctor for everyone and could include care from nurse practitioners and other primary-care providers.
Why the target changed
Premier François Legault had campaigned in 2018 on universal access to a family doctor. The government later acknowledged that it could not meet that promise. According to Quebec’s statistics agency, the share of residents with access to a family doctor fell from 82 per cent in 2019 to 73 per cent in 2023.
Dubé, who had held the health portfolio since 2020, admitted reform had proved harder than expected. Reframing the objective around a “health professional” recognized that a doctor is not required for every problem, but it also risked lowering the standard unless access, continuity and scope were defined.
Team-based care can expand capacity
Specialized nurse practitioners, pharmacists and other professionals can assess and manage many conditions within their regulated scope. Directing patients to the appropriate provider can free family doctors for complex cases and reduce unnecessary emergency-department visits.
Access to one appointment is not the same as continuous primary care. Patients with chronic illness, multiple medications or language and mobility barriers benefit when a team shares records and responsibility over time. The province needed to explain whether the 2026 target meant attachment to such a team or only the ability to obtain episodic service.
Measuring the promise
A credible target requires a denominator, starting point and service standard. Quebec should report how many residents lack an attached provider, the time to a medically appropriate appointment, regional differences and whether vulnerable patients receive follow-up.
Counting people differently can create apparent progress without adding capacity. For example, assigning a patient to a group should not count as effective access if calls go unanswered or the next available appointment is too late for the clinical need.
Workforce policy and public care
Dubé also planned legislation requiring newly trained Quebec doctors to work in the public system for a specified period. The proposal aimed to protect the public investment in medical education and staffing. It raised questions about mobility, fairness, enforcement and whether working conditions would retain doctors after the mandatory term.
Training more professionals takes years. Near-term gains depend on reducing administrative load, improving scheduling, using existing scopes of practice and retaining staff. Reform should not solve one shortage by transferring unsustainable work to nurses or other providers.
The deadline and political accountability
Summer 2026 fell shortly before the next provincial election, giving the target an obvious political context. That timing did not make the objective invalid, but it increased the need for public milestones and independent data before campaign season.
Residents needed to know what services they could expect, through which portal and within what time. Clinicians needed clear responsibility for test results, referrals and after-hours care. Without those details, universal “access” could remain a slogan.
The revised promise reflected a sound principle: primary care can be delivered by a capable team rather than only one doctor. Its success depended on whether Quebec converted that principle into timely, continuous and equitable service. The fall in family-doctor access showed why a broader model was necessary; transparent measures would determine whether the model represented real improvement or merely a new definition.
