Quebec’s new bonus incentive draws rural tech to bigger cities

Rural western Quebec health workers are applying for jobs in big cities — a trend some observers say is the unfortunate but predictable consequence of a recently adopted bonus system.

Last month, the Quebec government announced bonuses of up to $22,000 for techs at hospitals in Hull, Gatineau and Papineau and other bonuses of up to $18,000 for techs in Maniwaki.

The bonuses are meant to prevent staff from fleeing to higher paying jobs in Ontario.

But hospital employees in Shawville and Wakefield did not get the same deal.

Since the bonuses were announced, Outaouais Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSSO) – the health authority of western Quebec – confirmed to Radio-Canada that nine out of 12 medical imaging technologists working on the outskirts of Gatineau have applied for jobs at hospitals in Hull and other parts of Gatineau in the past month.

Seven of those nine workers are employed in Shawville and Wakefield, where bonuses are not offered.

“I can’t blame the technicians,” said Josey Bouchard, a spokesman for the local group Friends of the Pontiac, adding that the situation is not surprising “but completely disheartening.”

Bouchard said she is concerned that any exodus of workers would affect the quality of care in smaller communities — a concern shared by MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais Director Marc Carrière.

He is asking the province to offer bonuses more widely.

In an emailed statement, a CISSO spokesman said the bonuses were key to help “stabilize resources in the short term,” adding that a committee was monitoring their impact.

Treasury Board Chairwoman Sonia LeBel’s office said it was also monitoring the situation.