Ottawa's family doctor shortage isn't going away anytime soon — and a headline out of Quebec this week is a reminder of just how far Ontario still has to go.
Quebec's government announced it has registered half a million new patients with access to primary care, hitting the target more than a month ahead of the deadline set out in its agreement with family doctors. On paper, it sounds like a win. But opposition critics and health advocates are pushing back, warning that being registered in a system doesn't automatically mean getting a dedicated physician.
What Quebec Actually Achieved
The milestone is part of a formal agreement Quebec struck with family medicine groups (GMFs) to expand patient rosters and reduce the number of people without a regular doctor. The province has been racing against a deadline, and hitting the target early generated positive headlines.
But here's the catch: many newly registered patients are being seen by nurse practitioners, pharmacists, or shared care teams — not a dedicated family doctor. While expanded team-based care is increasingly seen as part of the solution, critics argue the province is counting registrations in a way that obscures whether patients actually have consistent, continuous access to a physician.
Why This Matters for Ottawa
Ottawa has been grappling with its own primary care crisis for years. Thousands of residents in the city are without a family doctor, and wait times to get on a physician's patient roster can stretch for years — if a spot opens at all.
Ontario has been expanding its use of Ontario Health Teams and nurse practitioners to pick up some of the slack, but access remains uneven across the city. Residents in lower-income neighbourhoods and newer suburban communities like Barrhaven and Stittsville have reported particular difficulty finding consistent primary care.
The question Ottawa advocates are now asking: could a registry-style model — similar to what Quebec implemented — help match patients with care providers more efficiently here?
Team-Based Care: A Partial Answer
Health policy experts have long argued that Ontario's doctor-centric model needs to evolve. Quebec's experience — for all its imperfections — suggests that expanding who counts as a primary care provider, and how patients are matched to them, can move the needle.
But as Quebec's opposition critics point out, hitting a registration number and actually resolving the doctor shortage are two different things. Patients want continuity: a provider who knows their history, can manage chronic conditions, and is reachable when something goes wrong.
For Ottawa residents still on a waitlist — or still searching — that distinction matters enormously.
What's Next
Ontario has made some moves, including funding for new family health teams and expanded scope for nurse practitioners, but a comprehensive provincial strategy with clear targets and accountability has been slow to materialize.
Quebec's early milestone, whatever its limitations, at least shows that governments can set measurable goals around primary care access and push toward them. Ottawa residents, and Ontarians broadly, are still waiting for that kind of urgency from Queen's Park.
Source: CBC Ottawa / CBC Montreal. Original reporting by CBC News.
