Private agencies set up more than 340,000 work shifts at health facilities in the Montreal and Quebec regions between April and December 2023, a rapid pace that calls into question the government's goal of banning them by October next year.
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As of October 20, the Integrated Health and Social Services Centers (CISSS) of Montreal, Laval, Montérégie and the Capitale-Nationale will no longer be able to use private agencies at all, Health Minister Christian Dubé announced a year ago.
Despite this ultimatum, the establishments continue to rely on independent workers (MOI) to operate the network, according to data obtained by Le Journal from April to December last year thanks to the Access to Information Law.
Still lots of quarters
In total, at least 343,670 shifts were granted to private agencies to recruit nurses, nursing assistants or nursing assistants. In December alone, 38,463 shifts were paid privately. These figures are not even complete as some companies did not respond to our request.
Work shifts granted to private agencies
- CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest: 90,652
- CIUSSS du Nord-de-l'Île-de-Montréal: 76,923
- CIUSSS of the West Island of Montreal: 54,303
- CISSS de la Montérégie Center: 49,367
- CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches: 43,183
- CISSS de la Montérégie-Est: 29,242
Total: 343,670
Source: CISSS data, April to December 2023
► Worrying fact: The number of work shifts did not decrease in several CISSS until the end of 2023, making it difficult to predict the end of the private sector. In Montérégie-Ouest, 13,166 work shifts were granted in the MOI alone last December, a record since April.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
“It will be a big challenge. We need to take big action and recruit people, admits Régis Blais, professor of health policy at the University of Montreal's School of Public Health. Will they succeed? It will be very difficult, I don’t think it will happen.”
“Photo courtesy of Régis Blais”
“We believe that abolishing the agencies is a good step. Can this be done by October? I have my reservations,” admits Xavier Gauvreau, vice-president of Quebec Doctors for the Public Plan (MQRP).
The total bill for private agencies during this period was $227,383,757. This number is also incomplete.
AMOUNTS PAID TO ME
- CISSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal: $52,467,949
- CIUSSS du Nord-de-l'Île-de-Montréal: $39,334,664
- CISSS de la Montérégie Center: $39,564,147
- CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches: $28,414,710
- CISSS de Laval: $25,516,426
- CISSS de la Montérégie-Est: $22,394,463
- CIUSSS of the West Island of Montreal: $18,771,925
- Quebec University Hospital: $919,473
Total: $227,383,757
Source: CISSS data, covering the period April to December 2023
“Reverse the bleeding”
The FSSS-CSN union recently ratified an agreement with the government that provides for the recognition of up to five years of service for private sector workers returning to the public sector. The largest union of nurses (FIQ) has not yet reached an agreement. FIQ also declined to grant the Journal an interview on the Interior Ministry issue.
Work organization, recognition of seniority, salary increases: the government must show imagination and flexibility, adds Blais.
“We have to create conditions that attract people [du privé]to tighten more and more and reverse the bleeding,” he says.
Asked about this issue, the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest indicates that it has progressive targets for reducing the MOI by next October, in particular a reduction of 60% for nursing staff and 30% for nurses by May 5th.
“All managers in our facility are called upon to approach agency employees individually to clarify their interest in a position in health and social care,” writes the communications department.
In Montreal, the University of Montreal Hospital Center, Sainte-Justine Hospital and the Philippe-Pinel Institute of Forensic Psychiatry say they do not use private agencies.
Schedule for the end of the independent workforce
- On October 20, 2024: Capitale-Nationale, Montreal, Chaudière-Appalaches, Laval and Montérégie
- On October 19, 2025: Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec, Estrie, Lanaudière and Laurentides
- On October 18, 2026: Bas-Saint-Laurent, Outaouais, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Nord-du-Québec, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Nunavik
Source: Office of the Minister of Health Christian Dubé
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