Dreaming of a bold and courageous health-care system for all
- Maddi Dellplain
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Don your scarves and pull your toques on tight. But is that winter frost or the bitter chill of progressive health policies put on ice?
Dec 18, 2025 by Maddi Dellplain
It’s been quite a year for Canadian health policy. Several controversial bills have come into play across the country, leaving many vulnerable patients and health-care workers wondering if they’ll be left out in the cold.
This month, Alberta yet again invoked the “notwithstanding clause” to shield itself from legal challenges for each of three current laws affecting transgender people – one of which prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16.
B.C. is making moves to expand its involuntary treatment program despite being in the midst of a Charter challenge pushing back on this very issue. Though B.C. has yet to allow involuntary treatment for substance use alone, critics warn that any moves in this direction could infringe on human rights, particularly as the province beefs up its capacity for the practice more generally.
In Quebec, backtracked from Bill 2, which had attempted to impose a new contract on physicians tying 10 per cent of their salaries to performance targets set by the province. The bill also included fines of up to $20,000 a day for “concerted action” protesting the changes, prompting thousands of physicians to take to the street and do just that.
Finally, in an ever-confusing move, Ontario passed a law to prohibit medical residents from entering the first round of the Canadian Resident Matching Service, a national agency tasked with pairing doctors to residency programs, if they did not attend high school in the province for at least two years. Eyebrows were raised about the seemingly pointless and “arbitrary” policy change in the midst of a near nation-wide family physician shortage, particularly as news surfaced that hundreds of Ontarians have been sent to the U.S. for medical treatment paid by OHIP to the tune of $212 million since 2018.
