From torn ACLs to advanced arthritis, the knee is the most operated-on joint in Canada—and the one where waiting often does the most damage. This page is a practical guide for patients and caretakers exploring private knee surgery in Montréal: replacement, partial replacement, arthroscopy, ACL reconstruction, and which surgeons are opted out of RAMQ.
Note: in general, Québec residents cannot pay privately for surgery within Québec (unless the surgeon is opted-out of RAMQ). For more knee options, view Calgary, AB; Edmonton, AB; Vancouver, BC; Toronto, ON.
A Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon, specializing in pediatric/adult sports medicine & ankle surgery. She is a lead researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine and a McGill professor.
Experienced orthopedic surgeon known for a patient-centred approach and technical versatility, ranging from soft tissue repair (sports medicine) to total joint replacements (knee, shoulder, hip).
Triple fellowship certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in hip & knee surgery, combining minimally invasive techniques and advanced robotic-assisted tech to help patients return to activity faster.
A globally recognized expert in complex orthopedics, specializing in limb lengthening and deformity correction, with extensive experience lower extremity orthopedics & pediatrics.
It depends on the surgeon's status. For medically necessary knee surgeries—such as knee replacement, partial replacement, arthroscopy, ACL reconstruction, or revision—Québec residents cannot pay privately to a surgeon enrolled in the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ).
However, Québec permits surgeons to formally opt out of RAMQ, in which case they may bill Québec residents directly for medically necessary knee procedures within the province. Many of the surgeons listed above are opted-out—look for "Accepting patients from all provinces." Out-of-province travel is generally only needed when a specific procedure or surgeon is not available privately in Québec.
Curious about aftercare? Read our guide on aftercare when travelling for surgery.
Yes and no—you can reach out to any of the private surgeons listed on Surgency without a referral. Their intake teams are happy to answer questions, explain what they treat, share pricing ranges, and walk you through next steps.
However, to book a formal consultation with the surgeon, you'll typically need a referral from your family doctor or nurse practitioner. Don't have one? Many of the clinics can help coordinate a virtual GP appointment to get the referral paperwork sorted. All surgeons listed on Surgency offer virtual initial consultations, so you don't need to travel until you and the surgeon have agreed on a plan.
Before your consultation, expect the clinic to request relevant medical records and recent diagnostic imaging (X-ray, MRI, CT, ultrasound, lab work, etc.). Having these ready speeds up the process and lets the surgeon give you specific guidance on your very first call.
This is general information, please seek professional tax guidance.
Generally, private surgeries performed in Canada are paid for out-of-pocket or via private insurance / employer benefits.
Provincial plans (like RAMQ, OHIP, MSP, or AHCIP) typically do not cover procedures at private clinics, though some exceptions exist for CNESST (Workers' Compensation) claims or specific inter-provincial programs.
Standard extended health benefits (e.g. Sun Life, Manulife, Beneva) typically do not cover the cost of the surgery itself. However, they often cover related costs such as:
If your employer provides a Health Spending Account (HSA) or "flex account," you can often use these funds to pay for the surgery. Unlike standard benefits, HSAs are usually flexible enough to cover CRA-eligible medical expenses, including private facility fees.
You may be able to get some financial relief at tax time.
Medical Expense Tax Credit (METC): You can generally claim eligible private surgery fees as a medical expense on your federal tax return. Learn more about the METC here.
Québec Tax Credit for Medical Expenses: Québec has a parallel medical expense tax credit that can further reduce your provincial tax liability. You claim eligible expenses minus 3% of your combined family net income.
Refundable Tax Credit for Medical Expenses: Québec offers a second, refundable credit for low-income workers. If your work income is low but your medical expenses are high, Québec may pay you money back even if you paid no tax.
Travel costs: Mileage, parking, and accommodation may also be claimable if you travel more than 40 km (for travel expenses) or 80 km (for accommodation and meals) to receive medical services not available near your home.
Please consult a tax professional before claiming any private surgery fees on your taxes.
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Surgeons and providers—who meet our listing criteria—pay a flat fee to list on the Surgency platform. To maintain objectivity, there are no commissions, referral fees, nor any ranking or recommending one surgeon over another.
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There's no single price—cost depends on the surgeon, facility, implant, and the specifics of your case.
As a general guide, private knee surgery in Canada commonly ranges from about $8,000 to $28,000+ for a single knee, with the surgeon's fee, anaesthesia, facility fee, and implant making up most of the bill. Costs are lowest in Quebec, and tend to be more expensive in Alberta and Ontario.
Pre-op imaging, medications, and physiotherapy may or may not be bundled in, so it's best to ask each clinic for a written, itemized quote.
Private surgeons typically charge a consultation fee because a surgical consult involves clinical work before, during, and after the appointment.
Most consultation costs range between $200 - $400, however they can be up to 10% of the overall surgery costs. In many cases this fee will get rolled into the total cost of the surgery itself—ask the surgeon.
A surgical consultation isn’t a “meet and greet.” It’s a formal medical assessment where the surgeon may:
Private clinics also cover operating costs that public hospitals don’t fund in the same way, including:
The consultation fee helps support these resources and the infrastructure required to provide timely, organized care outside publicly funded hospital operations.
As a family doctor in the public system, I believe transparency is a form of care. I created Surgency to help my patients struggling on long waitlists who wanted to understand all their options for timely medical attention.
Surgency is a free resource designed to empower and educate—helping you understand private pathways and find accredited surgeons within Canada. I hope Surgency brings you clarity.
Dr. Sean Haffey
Knee surgeons are orthopedic surgeons who specialize in conditions affecting the knee joint—including the bones, cartilage, ligaments, menisci, and tendons. The most common reasons people seek knee-specific care include:
You want a second opinion on whether surgery is the right next step
Please consult your physician for more guidance.
An estimated 424,384 surgeries are performed in Québec each year, with 75,000 to 100,000 of those being orthopedic procedures—including thousands of knee replacements, partial replacements, ACL reconstructions, and arthroscopies. Most medically necessary knee surgeries are delivered through the publicly funded Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ).
Unlike Ontario, Québec permits surgeons to "opt out" of RAMQ, allowing them to provide private knee surgery directly to Québec residents within the province. Several of the Montréal-area knee surgeons listed below are opted-out—look for "Accepting patients from all provinces."
Québec has the most established private surgical landscape in Canada, and Greater Montréal is at the centre of it. Opted-out knee surgeons and private clinics operate across the island and surrounding communities (Laval, Saint-Hubert, Joliette), offering privately funded total and partial knee replacement, arthroscopy, ACL reconstruction, and revision procedures.
Current regulations: Québec's regulatory environment is more permissive than Ontario's. Surgeons who opt out of RAMQ may charge patients directly for services, including some medically necessary procedures. This has allowed a parallel private system to develop alongside the public one. Regulations continue to evolve, and not all knee procedures or surgeons are available privately.
What this means for you: Greater Montréal residents generally have more in-province private knee surgery options than patients in most other Canadian provinces. Depending on your procedure, you may be able to access private knee care without travelling out of province.
Wait times depend on urgency, imaging, and OR capacity.
If you’re over 60 with degenerative arthritis, you may be triaged differently than a younger patient with a locked knee or acute ligament injury. The fastest path usually comes from: clear diagnosis + complete imaging + documented failed conservative care.
In the Canadian medical system, wait times are divided into two distinct stages:
In Quebec, surgical wait times are managed through a centralized provincial system designed to ensure the most urgent cases are treated first. Surgeons assign patients a priority level (1–5) based on clinical criteria, which determines the target wait time for each procedure.
The province uses a tracking system called SGAS (Système de gestion de l'accès aux services) to manage surgical wait lists. As of the 2025/2026 reforms, this system operates under the oversight of Santé Québec.
Surgical priority is not determined on a first-come, first-served basis. Instead, surgeons use Diagnosis Prioritization Codes to assess each patient's clinical situation. When adding you to the wait list, your surgeon enters specific data into the SGAS (Système de gestion de l'accès aux services) system, including:
To address surgical backlogs, Quebec has introduced new measures:
Even after a priority level is assigned, your surgery date may shift due to:
There are currently over 170,000 people on wait lists in Québec. 42,000 of whom are waiting on orthopedic surgeries—mostly hip and knee replacements.
Unfortunately, only 49% of hip replacements and 38% of knee replacements are completed within established benchmark time frames for timely care.
For hip replacements, 50% of patients are treated within 27 weeks, and 90% are seen within 61 weeks.
For knee replacements, 50% of patients are seen within 36 weeks, and 90% are seen within 69 weeks.
