As the first lawyer in a family of doctors – specifically family physicians – I have always been perplexed at the failure of our federal, provincial and territorial governments to come together to offer a solution to allow foreign trained doctors to integrate into the Canadian health care system as immigrants and ultimately as practitioners in their field. When I first started practice, (over 35 years ago) the rationale was that our provincial governments spent a lot of money educating our Canadian medical students and that any places at the employment table should be reserved for our own medical graduates and not others. It took less than a decade from starting my practice for federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as the corresponding regulatory bodies, to realize that this restrictive approach was actually limiting the supply of doctors that Canada needed overall. It is no secret that the wheels of government turn slowly and finally on December 8, 2025, our federal government introduced an immigration program to be delivered in conjunction with the provinces and territories through the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) to facilitate permanent residence for doctors already working in Canada. Let’s examine how this new program is supposed to work.
Firstly, it is important to note that the announcement on December 8, 2025 is a “pre-announcement” with actual Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in this newly created Express Entry category to be issued in early 2026 and, it is already mid February 2026 with none having been issued. The creation of this additional “targeted” category is generating 5000 spaces for admission for immigrants to Canada in the face of the overall reduced immigration targets announced in late 2024 and are in addition to the annual PNP allocations which were severely reduced in 2025. It remains to be seen whether these “additional” 5000 immigrant ITAs are truly an increase in Canada’s prospective immigration levels or some other targets will be slashed. For the full announcement details please see link: “Targeted immigration measures to boost Canada’s supply of doctors”
In keeping with the “in-Canada” emphasis of the 2024 and 2025 levels plans, which aim to provide opportunities for those persons already working in Canada, this new measure similarly applies to doctors with a minimum of one year of Canadian work experience in an eligible occupation. This is a significant point as one of the greatest challenges for foreign trained doctors is to obtain recognition of their foreign credentials by the regulatory bodies of a Canadian province or territory. For those doctors already licensed to work in Canada, albeit on a temporary basis, they have already done the heavy lifting in securing their professional licensure.
Foreign trained doctors, like many foreign trained medical professionals, face challenges in obtaining employment and especially in obtaining permanent residency in Canada. This was recently highlighted in a CTV article entitled “Toronto doctor with 2100 patients still working on permanent residency”. The path to Canadian permanent residence is never easy and while this program promises to provide hope for doctors already working in Canada, this CTV story highlights the need for professional assistance.
Even with the introduction of this new targeted Express Entry category for doctors, regulatory bodies need to do more to facilitate the licensure of medical professionals in general to ensure that Canadians have access to the health services that they need. Much can be learned from the apprenticeship programs for tradespeople and the articling process for lawyers to allow for educated and trained foreign professionals to work and gain experience in Canada under the supervision of other fully licenced and regulated medical practitioners to the benefit of all Canadians. This new immigration program is a first step in the right direction.
