Quebec slashes thousands of health-care workers’ hours

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Thousands of Quebec health workers holding down two jobs are being stripped of their extra hours — a move critics warn could tip an already fragile system into further turmoil.

The decision comes ahead of the province’s health-care overhaul, Santé Québec, which will bring Quebec’s hospitals and clinics under a single employer on Dec. 1. With this restructuring, the government has told employees working extra hours across multiple hospitals to choose just one position — leaving many scrambling to make up for lost income.

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“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Mike Bonarrigo, a warehouse keeper managing inventory at Lachine Hospital, who relies on extra shifts at LaSalle Hospital to support his three children.

“I’ve got loan payments coming up,” he said.

Quebec’s health-care system is already under severe strain as patients face hours-long waits for emergency care, and nearly 500,000 people endure delays beyond medically recommended for treatment. Vacant nursing positions have tripled since 2019, reaching around 10,000, while the health-care budget has ballooned by 50 per cent over the past six years, past $60 billion.

On Wednesday, Geneviève Biron, head of Santé Québec, pledged to curb costs by reducing “duplications” across the system. Hiring for administrative staff is now also on hold.

But the union representing Quebec’s largest group of health-care workers warns that forcing employees to reduce hours on short notice could strain the system further, increasing costs or jeopardizing patient care if staffing gaps aren’t filled.

“Our concern is that this will result in hours or positions being cut, and it is essential for these to be replaced and covered appropriately to ensure the continuation of our services,” said the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSS-CSN) in a statement to The Gazette.

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The union said that a “few thousand” employees across all job titles in the health-care system will be affected, explaining that the government must comply with labour laws regarding overtime pay now that previously separate employers are being unified under Santé Québec.

The FSS-CSN is calling for a 60-day transition period to ease the adjustment.

The Gazette has also confirmed that frontline workers like nurses will be impacted.

At the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, 89 nurses are affected, said Denis Jourbert, president of the affiliated Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ).

“This situation is worrisome because, in the end, there will be fewer nursing resources available.”

Quebec’s ministry of health did not comment on the changes.

Hospitals across the province said it is still too early to assess the full impact.

“Employee lists still require extensive validation, and the impact analysis will continue over the coming months,” said a spokesperson for the CIUSSS Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.

Many workers lean on jobs at different hospitals to supplement their income or make ends meet, using their skills inside the health-care industry.

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According to the government agency that negotiates collective agreements, most full-time health-care roles in Quebec range from 37.5 to 40 hours per week. Starting salaries can begin at $24 per hour for workers like warehouse keepers and $28 per hour for nurses, rising to over $45 per hour for experienced nurses, although experienced warehouse keepers top out at around $26 per hour.

Affected employees began receiving phone calls or face-to-face notifications from their supervisors at the beginning of November.

Last Friday, employees at several hospitals, including those under the McGill University Health Centre, received written confirmation via email: they must choose which job to keep by Dec. 1.

Employees were told if they fail to choose their preferred location by Nov. 21, they will automatically be assigned the location where they work the most hours. If hours are equal at both locations, the decision will fall to the respective locations.

For warehouse keeper Bonarrigo, he began to hear rumours from his colleagues that they might soon have to give up one job. Then, Bonarrigo’s boss confirmed it: by next month, he must choose which job to keep.

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“I need two jobs to support my three children — they eat more than I do,” he said.

Now, he faces the daunting task of finding a second job outside the health-care industry.

He explained that a friend who also works at his hospital and takes on extra shifts at a long-term care home was told he can no longer hold both positions. His friend’s response was blunt: “Who’s going to pay my mortgage?”

Jean-Nicolas Aubé, spokesperson for Santé Québec, did not comment on specific hour cuts for employees but emphasized the broader benefits of the health-care overhaul.

By unifying recruitment and management under a single system, he explained, Santé Québec aims to streamline processes, reduce duplication, and improve workforce coordination across the network.

“The duplication is a perfect example of how each establishment was recruiting separately, sometimes in the same areas, so they’re all working against one another.”

“Santé Québec will bring everything under one umbrella, allowing us to manage more efficiently.”

Charlaine Sleiman, a spokesperson for Health Canada, said that the Quebec government holds authority over organizing and managing its health-care system, including setting its own priorities, allocating its budget, and overseeing resources.

But Emmanuelle Faubert from the Montreal Economic Institute warned centralization may increase inefficiency across the system.

“Decisions made from a central office in Quebec City can’t fully grasp the day-to-day needs of workers and patients in places like Gaspé versus Montreal,” she explained. “Ignoring these regional differences could worsen existing challenges instead of solving them.”

Faubert said the issues now facing Quebec have been decades in the making, but she argued the CAQ is only making them worse.

By weakening the system as a whole, she said, these changes risk burning out health-care workers further, which could ultimately worsen the quality of care.

hnorth@postmedia.com

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