People working in healthcare and education in the Outaouais are criticizing the Quebec government’s 2025/2026 budget, tabled last week, for not investing enough in these critical social services.
The $165-billion budget, titled “For a strong Québec,” was pitched by Finance Minister Eric Girard as critical to supporting Quebecers through economic challenges induced by the ongoing trade war with the United States.
But Pontiac MNA André Fortin says that besides the $450 million earmarked for helping Quebec businesses weather the incoming tariffs, the budget contains few measures directly related to supporting Quebecers through the trade war, and that the majority of the province’s deficit can be attributed to mismanaged spending.
“The $14-billion deficit is a structural deficit. It is not in response to potential tariffs,” Fortin said, noting the projected $13.6-billion deficit is the largest in the province’s history.
“On the other [hand], they are cutting funding for healthcare and education, which are the two largest spending envelopes . . . It’s a bit of a head scratcher, as to how the Quebec government is in this situation, but when you look at some of the financial decisions the Quebec CAQ government has made over the last little while, maybe it makes sense.”
Fortin pointed to Quebec’s recent SAAQclic scandal and failed investments in companies like NorthVolt and Taiga over the years as examples of what he believes to be financial mismanagement.
While both healthcare and education received slightly larger budgets than they did last year, neither received enough to keep up with inflation.
Healthcare spending will receive a three per cent increase for the whole province over the next year.
“We don’t know yet what that will mean for our region, but at three per cent, that’s barely enough to maintain existing services,” said Jean Pigeon, founder of healthcare advocacy group SOS Outaouais.
“The health minister has acknowledged that these rates would not cover the system costs, [including] wage increases and inflation [ . . . ] How can we possibly think that this is not disguising other cuts, and further erosion of the healthcare system?”
Fortin said the government allocated money for the new hospital it plans to build in Gatineau, but that this project, still many years away, doesn’t do anything to address the region’s immediate healthcare needs.
“If you don’t invest in finding and attracting candidates and offering them good working conditions, then all we’re going to do is build four walls and have nobody in them to treat people, so that’s the part that’s lacking right now,” he said.
Radio-Canada reported the CAQ’s Plan québécois des infrastructures (PQI) included $1.7 billion for health and social services in the Outaouais over the next ten years, destined for the new Gatineau hospital and the expansion of the Centre d’hébergement de la Vallée-de-la-Lièvre.
Despite these larger investments, Fortin said the Outaouais is still not receiving its fair share of the infrastructure budget.
“The Outaouais represents 4.7 per cent of the population in Quebec. In this budget, we’re getting 3.6 per cent of the infrastructure spend. That means we’re underfunded on our roads, the public transit is underfunded, our primary and elementary schools will be underfunded . . . and so we’re being short-changed about 25 cents on the dollar for every buck we send to Quebec City.”
Education cuts loom
Fortin said investments in the province’s education system are no better.
“The government is giving them about a two per cent increase in their year-over-year budget [ . . . ] But all of that two per cent and more will be directly allocated to teachers’ salaries, so in order to pay for teachers’ salaries there will have to be cuts in other places.”
Pascal Proulx, assistant director general of the Western Quebec School Board, said while the board has yet to receive its 2025-2026 operating budget from the province, he anticipates more belt-tightening.
“It is too early to predict the exact amount we will need to cut, but it is certain that a significant effort will have to be made,” he wrote in an email to THE EQUITY, noting the paring back of already allocated investment budgets wil mean renovation projects at some schools will also have to be postponed.
Lumber trucking program renewed
One win for the Outaouais region in this year’s Quebec budget is the renewal of a subsidy program from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests that helps get the region’s hardwood to market. The budget sets aside $7 million over two years to continue the program to sell low-quality hardwood from the Outaouais and Laurentides regions.
“There’s one thing that I think will be appreciated that I can find in [the budget], and that is the program to send some of our wood outside of the region [ . . . ] it is continuing, while some of the Outaouais factories are down,” Fortin said.
“That is something that was needed for the region and so it’s prolonging that existing program.”
