Doctors in Canada Protest Move to Raise their Salaries, Say they Are Being Paid too Much

Doctors in Canada have rejected plans to raise their salaries, saying that they are being paid "too much."

More than 500 doctors and over 150 medical students have reportedly signed a public letter rejecting the pay hike.

"We, Quebec doctors who believe in a strong public system, oppose the recent salary increases negotiated by our medical federations," they declare in the letter.

The medics argued that it would unfair for them to get increased remuneration, when nurses and patients are struggling to get better health services.

"These increases are all the more shocking because our nurses, clerks and other professionals face very difficult working conditions, while our patients live with the lack of access to required services because of the drastic cuts in recent years and the centralization of power in the Ministry of Health," reads the letter dated February 25th.

"The only thing that seems to be immune to the cuts is our remuneration," the letter says.

The group, which include; 213 general practitioners, 184 specialists, 149 resident medical doctors and 162 medical students said the cash should, instead, be redistributed to the the country's health system.

"We believe that there is a way to redistribute the resources of the Quebec health system to promote the health of the population and meet the needs of patients without pushing workers to the end," the letter says.

"We, Quebec doctors, are asking that the salary increases granted to physicians be canceled and that the resources of the system be better distributed for the good of the health care workers and to provide health services worthy to the people of Quebec."

A report published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information in 2017 indicates that a physician in Canada is paid $260,924 ($339,000 Canadian) by the county's Ministry of Health per year on average.

A family physician receives $211,717 ($275,000 Canadian), while a surgical specialist is paid $354,915 ($461,000 Canadian).