Taylor Clark
LJI Reporter
The Outaouais region continued to trail behind the average investments into health and education, according to an annual study from the Observatoire du développement de l’Outaouais.
Entitled “Outaouais in catch-up mode: Monitoring the region’s progress in health, education, and culture,” the study investigated the region’s shortfalls in funding health, education, and culture but its analysis on culture had yet to be released.
In terms of health and social services, the region was short approximately $181 million to close the gap with the province’s average. For available short-term and long-term beds in 2022-2023, Outaouais ranked last compared to the Estrie, Mauricie et du Centre-du-Québec regions and Quebec as a whole, with 170 more short-term beds and 462 more long-term beds needed to reach Quebec’s average. The region also lacked 1,138 direct care nurses and 264 doctors to meet the province’s average in 2022-2023.
Up from the previous year, Outaouais saw a shortfall of 53 college programs in 2023 to catch up to the average number of programs in comparable regions. The shortage amounted to 24 pre-university programs and 29 training programs. Compared to similar regions, the fall of 2022 saw 63 fewer university programs available, most notably in the fields of pure sciences, health sciences, engineering, and humanities.
The data from the Observatoire du développement de l’Outaouais came as no surprise as the region has been playing a game of catch-up for years. The Société d’aménagement de l’Outaouais highlighted the lack of government intervention in a report from 1977. In 2019, the National Assembly of Quebec adopted an official recognition of Outaouais’ “special situation,” acknowledging how far the region has fallen behind in public funding for health, education, and culture.
With the release of its annual studies, the aim is to give local decision-makers the facts to adjust measures and actions.
Photo caption: Situated on the Université du Québec en Outaouais campus, the Observatoire du
développement de l’Outaouais annually monitors the region’s progress in catching up to
historical delays.
Photo credit: Observatoire du développement de l’Outaouais Facebook