Services de Santé du Québec

Established in 1943 by Dr. Jacques Tremblay in Québec City, the Services de Santé du Québec was a non-profit insurance cooperative similar to the doctor-sponsored medical services plans in English Canada. Tremblay and his supporters rejected the intervention of the province and the federal government in health services. By 1947, the Services de Santé du Québec had enrolled 7,688 subscribers, although it did not join Trans-Canada Medical Plans when it was formed in 1951. Growth was slow because Quebec citizens lacked the money to buy health insurance and, in 1964, only 43.1 per cent of the province’s population had private insurance, compared to 70.9 per cent in Ontario. The Services de Santé du Québec did enter Trans-Canada Medical Plans in 1963, with 194,289 subscribers, and had increased enrolment to 360,998 by 1967. In comparison, the Quebec Hospital Service Association had expanded its subscriber base from 586,563 in 1953 to 907,695 by 1967. Together, these plans provided partial coverage for 1,268,693 of the province’s 5.8 million citizens.