Authors

Report Overview

Sarahi Nava Marquina, Policy Researcher, Provincial Employment Roundtable

This report examines how language policies are impacting the future of Québec’s healthcare system—and how English-speaking professionals could play a key role in strengthening it.

Produced in collaboration with Dialogue McGill, it explores how language-based barriers for English speakers add pressure to a system already strained by staff shortages, aging infrastructure, and rising demand.

Despite these challenges, the report identifies a clear opportunity: with the right support and policies, English-speaking professionals can help build a more inclusive and resilient healthcare system. Drawing on Census data and an inventory of healthcare-focused French-language training programs, the report outlines key areas for action and change.

Key Findings

Data on interprovincial migration reveal Québec’s inability to retain English-speaking healthcare workers living in the province, as opposed to French-speakers.

• English speakers made up about two-thirds (65.6%) of all healthcare and social assistance workers who moved from Québec to other provinces in Canada, representing a significant loss for such a small portion of the healthcare labour force.
• The data pertains to 2021 and, therefore, does not incorporate the potential impacts of Law 14 on this out-migration trend.
• English speakers’ net migration —the number of individuals who moved to Québec minus those who moved to other provinces— has remained relatively stable in 2016 and 2021 (approximately at -300 for both years).
• On the contrary, during the same period, French speakers’ net migration switched from negative to positive (-215 in 2016 compared to 198 in 2021), meaning more French speakers moved to Québec than left.

English speakers are underrepresented in the healthcare and social assistance industry.

• English speakers comprise 11.4% of the industry’s labour force, but 15.8% of Québec’s total labour force.
• The unemployment rate for English-speaking health and social assistance workers was twice as high as that of French speakers (4.7% compared to 2.3%).

There are very few healthcare-specific French language learning resources available in the province.

• Our inventory identified at least 28 unique healthcare-specific French language learning courses or trainings, but only 15 did not require participants to already be enrolled as a student at an educational institution. Most were concentrated in Montréal.

English speakers are more heavily engaged in professions that require a university, as opposed to CEGEP or vocational, degree.

• Examples include specialist physicians and dentists.

Gender affects engagement with the healthcare industry as a whole, as well as specific professions.

• The vast majority of healthcare and social assistance workers (80.1%) are women. Among English speakers, women participate in the healthcare industry at approximately three times the rate of men (women make up 8.7% of the industry compared to men’s 2.7%).
• English-speaking men tend to work as specialist physicians or dentists, while English-speaking women tend to hold roles such as dental assistants, dietitians, nutritionists, and home support workers. The same trend exists among French speakers.