The ScaleUP Story: QDoc
Dr. Norm Silver receiving the People’s Choice Award at the 2025 ScaleUP Awards Gala
When you talk with Dr. Norman Silver, it becomes clear that QDoc did not start as a technology company looking for a problem. It began as a physician-led response to gaps in care that were visible every day on the ground.
Founded in late 2021, QDoc has grown from a simple virtual care MVP into a multi-product medical technology company serving patients, providers, and public systems at scale. What started with seven patient visits in its first month now supports more than 270,000 visits, with over 11,000 virtual visits each month.
Roots in Care Delivery
Norm’s entrepreneurial instinct took shape long before QDoc existed. Trained as a pediatrician, he spent years improving patient flow, access, and experience inside Manitoba’s health system.
From nurse-initiated X-ray programs that reduced wait times, to specialty clinics that redirected non-surgical cases away from overloaded surgeons, his focus was consistent. Find friction. Remove it. Improve outcomes.
Those experiences shaped the lens through which QDoc was built. Practical. Clinically grounded. Designed to work inside real-world constraints.
“I see the way things are, and I see how they could be better. “Then I try to push that solution into existence.” - Dr. Norm Silver
From MVP to Momentum
QDoc launched its first MVP in November 2021. At the time, the platform did one thing. It connected a patient to a doctor over video.
There was no billing. No automation. No scale infrastructure.
Within weeks, demand surged. Media interest followed. By mid-December, the team made a deliberate decision to slow exposure until the product and operations could keep up.
In 2022, the platform handled roughly 13,000 visits. As volume increased, so did a new challenge.
Credibility.
“We realized early that people were asking, ‘Is this real? Who are these guys?’” Norm says.
Awards and recognition became part of the strategy. Not for trophies, but for trust. Applying to credible programs helped validate the business with patients, partners, governments, and future investors.
Building a Three-Product Platform
Today, QDoc operates as a three-product company.
QDoc Virtual delivers publicly billed virtual care at scale.
QDoc Billing provides certified billing software that now processes roughly $40 million annually, with about $32 million coming from brick-and-mortar clinics outside QDoc’s own platform.
QDoc Booking aggregates appointment availability across clinics, allowing patients to find and book the first available appointment with a single click, fully integrated into electronic medical records.
That last product started as an internal fix.
“We were able to redeploy a full-time staff role because of it,” Norm says. “That’s when we knew this needed to be its own product.”
Innovation Under Constraint
Much of QDoc’s innovation comes from operating inside regulatory, geographic, and clinical constraints.
The platform automatically matches patients to the most appropriate provider based on age, location, and presenting issue. Calls escalate in defined intervals to maintain access while preserving continuity of care.
That architecture has enabled rapid-response deployments.
During Manitoba wildfires, QDoc onboarded evacuated northern physicians within days, allowing them to continue treating their own patients remotely. In paramedic programs, 98 percent of patients were seen by a single designated medical director, supported by an automated safety net.
For underserved populations, including people experiencing homelessness, QDoc partnered with frontline organizations to provide tablets and access care directly from the street.
“If you can treat something early,” Norm explains, “you prevent it from becoming catastrophic.”
Scaling the Organization
QDoc now employs a team of 40, including 19 developers.
Behind the scenes, QDoc is also making a deliberate shift from a collection of tools into a fully scalable SaaS platform. With support from NRC-IRAP, the company has been able to fund key technical talent to unify its codebase and build a single, productized platform designed to scale across jurisdictions. The goal is a unified-code, multi-tenant SaaS offering by June 2027.
Leadership structure is evolving alongside growth.
Norm leads vision and fundraising. His co-founder oversees technology. Operations, billing, marketing, and provider relationships are supported by dedicated leads. Advisors with experience running national and global health organizations help develop next-generation leaders inside the company.
The company’s values are explicit and operationalized: quality, diversity, ownership, and compassion.
“We want people making decisions without waiting for permission,” Norm says. “The values tell them how.”
From Local to National
While QDoc has proven its model in Manitoba, the next phase is geographic expansion.
Billing services are already extending west. Booking and virtual care are preparing to follow, pending enterprise and government-level partnerships.
“We know this works locally,” Norm says. “The question now is how we do it at scale, across jurisdictions.”
That challenge is front of mind. But it is paired with confidence built through execution.
At the ScaleUP Awards
Dr. Norman Silver was recognized as a ScaleUP Award winner and joined the ScaleUP community at the Awards Gala, where he connected with peers navigating similar growth transitions.
For Norm, the value was clear.
“These awards create awareness and credibility,” he says. “They matter when you’re raising money, working with governments, and building trust.”
More importantly, they create a reason to pull others forward.
“A rising tide floats all boats,” he adds.
QDoc’s story reflects that belief. Scale is not just about growth metrics. It is about building systems that work, serving people who need them, and sharing the path so others can follow.