Rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, and recurrent dislocations are some of the most common reasons people consult an orthopedic surgeon. These injuries and conditions can make waiting difficult. This page is a practical guide for patients and caretakers exploring private shoulder surgery in Montréal: rotator cuff repair, replacement, labral repair, stabilization, and which surgeons accept patients privately.
Note: in general, Québec residents cannot pay privately for surgery within Québec (unless the surgeon is opted-out of RAMQ). For more shoulder options, view Calgary, AB; Edmonton, AB; Vancouver, BC; Toronto, ON.
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 orthopedic surgeon specializing in elbow and shoulder procedures who treats professional athletes and active individuals looking to return to sport safely and quickly.
It depends on the surgeon's status. For medically necessary shoulder surgeries—such as rotator cuff repair, shoulder replacement, labral repair, or stabilization—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 shoulder procedures within the province.
On Surgency, surgeons with "Accepting patients from all provinces" on their profile are opted-out.
This is why some Canadians seeking private care choose to travel out-of-province when a specific procedure or surgeon is not available privately in Québec.
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.
Surgency is free for patients, funded by surgeons/surgical providers.
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.
Surgency is patient-first. Our goal is to make the process of finding a private surgeon as simple as possible. You choose who to contact. Learn more in our Advertising Policy.
There's no single price—shoulder surgery covers a wide range of procedures, so cost depends heavily on what you need, plus the surgeon, facility, implant, and the specifics of your case.
As a general guide, private shoulder surgery in Canada commonly ranges from $5,000 (for straightforward diagnostics/arthroscopy) to $28,000+ (for shoulder replacements or complex repairs).
The surgeon's fee, anaesthesia, facility fee, and (for replacements) the implant make up most of the bill. Costs tend to be lower in Québec relative to other provinces, and higher in Alberta and Ontario.
Pre-op imaging, medications, bracing, and physiotherapy may or may not be bundled in, so it's best to ask each clinic for a written, itemized quote before you decide.
This is general information, not a quote—pricing varies by clinic and case.
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
Shoulder surgeons are orthopedic surgeons who specialize in conditions affecting the shoulder joint, rotator cuff, labrum, and surrounding tendons. The most common reasons people seek shoulder 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 shoulder surgeries such as rotator cuff repairs, shoulder replacements, and labral repairs. Most medically necessary shoulder 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 shoulder surgery directly to Québec residents within the province. On Surgency, surgeons with "Accepting patients from all provinces" on their profile are opted-out.
Québec has the most established private surgical landscape in Canada, and Greater Montréal is at the centre of it. Opted-out shoulder surgeons and private clinics operate across the island and surrounding communities (Laval, Saint-Hubert, Joliette), offering privately funded rotator cuff repair, shoulder replacement, labral repair, arthroscopy, and stabilization 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 shoulder procedures or surgeons are available privately.
What this means for you: Greater Montréal residents generally have more in-province private shoulder surgery options than patients in most other Canadian provinces. Depending on your procedure, you may be able to access private 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.