The CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which is facing a glaring shortage of personnel, has just concluded private contracts with four personnel placement agencies for the summer period. The health establishment indicates that these agreements will be applied “temporarily, until sufficient resources are available to maintain critical and essential services to the population”.
“It is not possible to specify the number of distinct people who will be under contract […] during the summer period,” writes the CISSS in a press release. The establishment recalls that, “generally”, it “employs at all times 600 to 700 workers from private agencies to meet the needs of the population” during the summer holidays.
The CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue presented last week a plan to reorganize services due to a lack of manpower. Since May 19, the number of nurses and beneficiary attendants has notably been reduced within CHSLD teams. There are also fewer nurses working in home support in the field. The closure of a 12-bed active mental health rehabilitation unit at Malartic hospital was avoided.
According to the CISSS, the new rules enacted by Quebec to reduce the use of private placement agencies “have the impact of restricting the availability of independent labor resources” on its territory. Since May 19, the health establishment must notably offer capped remuneration to staff from agencies (for a clinical nurse, $74 per hour + 35% in remote areas). By October 18, 2026, it will have to stop using independent labor, like other CISSSs in remote areas, notably that of the North Shore.
In its press release, the CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue recalls that it is entitled to conclude contracts over the counter “when due to an emergency situation, the safety of people or property is in question “.
Quebec specifies that these contracts respect the “maximum rates” and that the CISSS de la Côte-Nord recently used the same measure to avoid reductions in services.
A “public flying team” to the rescue
More than 300 people have expressed interest in joining the ranks of the “public flying team” responsible for helping remote regions with serious staff shortages, indicated the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, in a publication on the social network X Tuesday.
The Quebec government announced last Thursday its intention to set up such a brigade with the Confederation of National Unions (CSN) and the Federation of Quebec Workers (FTQ)
The Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) of Quebec, which represents more than 90% of Quebec nurses, was not asked to train the flying team since it has not reached an agreement in principle with Quebec. The union, however, maintains that it was refused when it put forward this solution at the negotiating table with the government last November.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the FIQ proposed establishing an “expanded flying team to compensate for the withdrawal of independent labor in all regions and urban centers of Quebec.” “The solution cannot be put into motion without us, and we are there,” declares its president Julie Bouchard, adding that the “door is open to make this plan a reality.”