Quebec’s Ministry of Health has announced it will be offering new bonuses to nurses and cardiorespiratory professionals who relocate to the Outaouais region for work, but will not be extending these bonuses to existing Outaouais residents who take nursing jobs in their home region.
The bonuses will be $30,000 for those who move here from away to take jobs with the Grande-Rivière-Hull-Gatineau, Des Collines, Vallée-de-la-Lièvre, or Petite-Nation local service networks, and $35,000 for those who take jobs with the Pontiac or Vallée-de-la-Gatineau service networks.
Only those who sign on for at least three years of full-time work in the region will be eligible for these bonuses.
“These incentives demonstrate our government’s commitment to investing more in regions facing significant workforce challenges,” said Minister of Health Christian Dubé in the French press release from Nov. 28. “They will help attract new talent, stabilize teams, and reduce pressure on the healthcare system.”
According to numbers from CISSSO, the Outaouais needs 509 nurses out of a total of 2,236 positions required to meet the organization’s needs. In the Pontiac local network, 24 nursing positions remain unfilled out of a total of 100.
The ministry’s press release explains the lump-sum relocation allowances will be paid in two installments: between $10,000 and $12,000 upon starting employment, and the remaining amount after three years of service or at the end of the contract.
On top of this, all Outaouais nurses will receive an additional 15 per cent in pay for overtime hours worked during the busy periods between Dec. 15 and Jan. 31 and between June 15 and Sept. 15. This is five per cent more than nurses receive for overtime during these periods elsewhere in Quebec. During the rest of the year, Outaouais nurses will receive a 10 per cent increase for overtime hours, while nurses elsewhere do not get a supplement.
These measures were determined during the government’s last negotiations for a new collective agreement with nurses, which were finalized in Oct. 2025.
The new 2024-2028 collective agreement includes an additional $1 million a year for the Outaouais region.
Karine D’Auteuil, president of the local nurses union, FIQ–SPSO, said this new measure is a small step forward but shouldn’t be seen as a solution to the healthcare challenges in the Outaouais, in part caused by the over 1,000 nursing vacancies across the region.
“The government waited so long before putting concrete actions in place, that we’re going to need further concrete actions to help our situation here. [ . . .] Yes, this agreement is a small step forward. Is it the miracle solution? Absolutely not,” she said.
“It’s a measure that was already used in the past and saw positive results. It’s not with this $5 million that we’ll resolve the critical situation in the Outaouais.”
She said the union advocated for a staff-patient ratio system to help stabilize the workload, but that the government rejected this, and insisting instead on bonuses or lump sums, but nothing concrete for working conditions or excessive workloads.
Jean Pigeon, founder and spokesperson of healthcare advocacy group SOS Outaouais, echoed D’Auteuil’s call for greater structural reforms.
“Salaries are a false debate. The real problem, the reason people are leaving, is the lack of resources and exhaustion. Bonuses, which are temporary by nature, will not fix a ‘sick’ system.”
No bonus for new Outaouais nurses staying put
Outaouais residents studying to become nurses will not be eligible to receive these bonuses if they take jobs in their home region.
When asked why this was the case, Ministry of Health spokesperson Marie-Christine Patry wrote, “this specific measure aims to attract and retain new resources in the region. It involves incentives to help attract new talent, stabilize teams, and reduce pressure on the network.”
D’Auteuil, for her part, said it would be impossible to extend the $30,000 to each of the union’s 2,943 members in the Outaouais, so the negotiations focused on giving people with families elsewhere an incentive to move here, counting on the fact that people with family here may be less likely to move away.
“Yes the Pontiac is very close to Ontario, just like Hull is to Ottawa. It’s always a risk. That’s why we have to improve working conditions. By doing so, people will want to stay working here, and not cross the border.”
Pontiac MNA André Fortin, previously health critic for the official opposition, was not impressed with this new measure.
“So what’s going to happen here? Our nurses will go work in Ontario and other nurses will come here?” he asked. “There are people who cary the health system here and they’ve been carrying it on their shoulders for ever and ever, and to tell them that their new colleague will make more than they are, it’s disrespectful to what a lot of people in this region have been doing.”
