Published September 22, 2026 · Équipe Le Québec Vote
**Verdict: True, with an important qualification.** In 2018, the Coalition Avenir Québec did promise to assign every Quebecer a family doctor within four years. The target was not met, and the party explicitly abandoned it during the 2022 campaign. In 2026, Christine Fréchette is once again setting a universal objective on the same four-year timeline, but the new version also includes enrolment with a family medicine group. It is therefore not exactly the same promise.
The comparison resurfaced in a [segment broadcast by QUB](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X422lrO45SU&t=334s), after Fréchette said it was still possible to provide every Quebecer with a family doctor by the end of a new term.
The issue calls for more than a simple “this was already promised.” Between 2018 and 2026, the government changed how it defines patient attachment: a person can now be attached to a group of physicians without having a personally assigned doctor. That distinction changes both the scope of the promise and the way success is measured.
## What the CAQ actually promised in 2018
The CAQ’s campaign document leaves little room for interpretation. Its 2018 commitments included a promise to “assign, within four years, a family doctor to all Quebecers,” while aiming to make that doctor or a specialized nurse practitioner available within a maximum of 36 hours. A copy of the list is [preserved by the AREQ](https://areq.lacsq.org/wp-content/uploads/A1819-Engagements-CAQ-2018.pdf).
The CAQ’s [August 2018 health policy document](https://coalitionavenirquebec.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/document_orientations_sante_2018.pdf) was even more specific. The party estimated that about 1.6 million Quebecers—close to 21% of the population—did not have a family doctor. It argued that the approximately 6,900 family physicians following patients in primary care could cover all unattached patients through a new agreement with the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec and a change in physician compensation.
The four-year deadline was explicit, and the commitment clearly involved assigning a family doctor to every Quebecer. On that point, the claim heard in the video is supported by the record.
## The promise was not fulfilled during the first term
The situation four years later did not match the promised result. As of August 15, 2022, 834,255 people were registered with the family doctor access registry and waiting for a place, according to figures reported by [La Presse during the 2022 campaign](https://www.lapresse.ca/elections-quebecoises/2022-09-02/sante/la-caq-ne-promet-plus-un-medecin-de-famille-a-tous-les-quebecois.php).
The comparison with 2018 requires care. In April 2018, the CAQ itself said that 1,631,258 people did not have a family doctor, while 381,449 were registered on the waiting list. The number of people without a doctor and the number who have placed their name on the registry are not the same measure. A waiting-list total alone cannot establish that everyone else has obtained a doctor.
What is certain is that the universal goal had not been reached. In September 2022, Health Minister Christian Dubé acknowledged that discussions with physicians had led the government to conclude that it was not possible to provide a doctor for every patient. The CAQ then proposed a different approach: using a common access point to direct each person to the appropriate professional—a physician, nurse, pharmacist or someone else.
That was an explicit retreat from the individual-doctor promise made in 2018, although the party retained its objective of offering an appointment within 36 hours.
## What Christine Fréchette promised in 2026
On September 20, 2026, during an interview on Salut Bonjour, Fréchette answered “yes, absolutely” when asked whether a family doctor for every Quebecer within four years remained possible. She repeated that objective at a news conference, according to [La Presse](https://www.lapresse.ca/elections-quebecoises/2026-09-20/sante/un-medecin-ou-un-gmf-pour-tous-d-ici-quatre-ans-souhaite-frechette.php).
But the commitment is broader than it was in 2018: it now refers to **a doctor or a family medicine group for everyone**. Patient attachment can therefore be individual or collective.
This is more than a semantic difference. A person assigned to a physician normally has one professional responsible for ongoing care. Someone attached to a group is connected to a team or care setting and may not always see the same doctor. The group model can extend coverage and distribute demand across professionals, but it does not fully reproduce the continuous relationship promised in 2018.
## A new definition of “access”
Since late 2025, Quebec has relied specifically on collective attachment. Its agreement with the FMOQ called for the accelerated attachment of 500,000 people, including 180,000 considered vulnerable, by June 30, 2026. The government said that more than 7.6 million Quebecers would be attached to a care setting.
The [December 19, 2025 government announcement](https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/une-entente-gagnante-pour-ameliorer-lacces-aux-soins-de-sante-67854) linked this target to a reform of family physician compensation: 50% capitation, 30% fee-for-service and 20% hourly pay. Financial incentives totalling $76 million were tied to the accelerated attachment target.
On [February 4, 2026](https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/vers-un-nouveau-mode-de-remuneration-des-medecins-de-famille-et-une-plus-grande-prise-en-charge-des-quebecois-et-des-quebecoises-68330), the government said more than 78,000 people had already received a letter confirming their attachment to a group of family physicians. This mechanism can attach large numbers of patients quickly, but it also requires a distinction among three different outcomes: administrative enrolment with a group, obtaining an appointment and receiving genuine continuity of care.
Fréchette argues that the results are also showing up in consultations. She says 650,000 new patients have been attached to a physician or group since January and that 350,000 more appointments were booked in the first months of the year than during the same period a year earlier. As of July 1, 2026, 359,000 people were still waiting for a doctor or enrolment with a group, according to figures reported by La Presse.
These figures show progress on the government’s chosen indicators. They do not yet establish that every Quebecer can receive care when needed. To assess the promise at the end of a possible term, the government would need to publish separate figures for people with a personal physician, people attached to a group, actual appointment wait times, completed consultations and continuity with the same professional or team.
## Is the 2026 promise more realistic?
It relies on a different and potentially more flexible mechanism. The 2018 promise assumed that every person would be assigned a family doctor. The 2026 version allows a family medicine group to assume collective responsibility for part of the population. It also rests on a compensation reform and incentives tied to the number of attached patients.
That may make the target more achievable administratively. It does not automatically guarantee timely clinical access. A group may count a patient among its attached population even when that person struggles to get an appointment, does not see the same physician consistently or lacks adequate follow-up for a chronic condition.
The strongest argument for the new promise is that the group model better reflects modern interprofessional care: physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and other professionals can divide responsibilities according to patient needs. The strongest counterargument is that an attachment metric can make access appear solved while patients’ real-world experience remains uneven.
## Conclusion: a repeated promise, but redefined
It is **true** that the CAQ promised in 2018 to provide every Quebecer with a family doctor within four years. The party’s own election document confirms it. The commitment was not fulfilled, and in 2022 the CAQ acknowledged that providing an individual doctor for every patient was not achievable under the model it had pursued.
In 2026, Fréchette is reviving the same timeline and the same political objective of universal coverage, but she is not putting forward the exact 2018 promise. The new version allows a citizen to be attached to a family medicine group rather than to a named physician.
The decisive question is therefore no longer simply how many names have been removed from the waiting registry. It is what the government is concretely promising each patient: enrolment, a timely appointment, ongoing care—or all three. Without separate, public indicators, the next assessment may once again compare different definitions under the same political slogan.