Canada has an aging population resulting in an aging and rapidly retiring workforce. This has led to a physician shortage with over 11,000 healthcare job vacancies existing at any one time across Canada. The opportunities for skilled international healthcare workers into the country are extremely high.

Health care in Canada is delivered through a high quality publicly-funded health care system and doctors are one of the most highly sought after professionals in Canada and there are a wide range of exciting opportunities available in hospitals, clinics, community health and private practices.

You could find yourself working in a substantial city teaching hospital or perhaps working as a rural doctor where you will enjoy an enhanced sense of community with access to quality specialist services and an opportunity to practice broad spectrum medicine allows you to fully utilize your skills, broaden your experience and often enjoy greater autonomy.

Family Medicine Practitioner

As a family physician you may find yourself providing primary contact and continuous care towards patients in urban, mid-sized, rural and isolated areas.

You will most likely working in an office-based practice in a variety of settings including group or team practices, hospitals and clinics.

The national certifying body for family physicians is the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ) also administers certification exams in family medicine. These exams are accepted in Québec, New Brunswick and, in certain circumstances, in other provinces/territories.

Specialist

As a specialist in clinical medicine you will act as a consultant to other physicians and most likely work in office-based practice or in a hospital.

As a physician specialist in clinical medicine, laboratory medicine, or surgery and use the title of a specialist physician, you must be licensed as a specialist member in the provincial or territorial medical regulatory authority.

Solo or Group Practice

As a general practitioner or family medicine practitioner you will most likely find yourself working in a group practice as less than one third of all practitioners work in a solo practice.

Practicing in groups vary from the benefits of a shared infrastructure to the support network that a group practice provides. Group practices are especially common outside urban areas where there is usually a greater distance from major hospitals and from a pool of specialists.

Rural or Urban Practice

There are many compensation programmes to attract doctors to practice in rural regions. These programs may include substantial locum coverage, recruitment bonuses, on-call remuneration, bursaries for students who choose to practice in rural areas, isolation pay and guaranteed minimum fee-for-service billings among other benefits.

Working as a Locum

Provision of locum coverage is one of the retention strategies for helping to keep physicians in these rural communities and working as a locum can offer interesting opportunities.

You will experience not just a variety of clinical settings, but also life in various communities with the opportunity to practice a broad spectrum of medicine, fully utilizing your skills, broadening your experience and enjoying greater autonomy.

Support for Doctors

This section contains resource information for your medical career in Canada including professional, community and practical support. 

Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada - Represents the country’s 17 faculties of medicine and is the national voice for academic medicine. 

Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) - Provides an electronic application service and a computer match for entry into postgraduate medical training throughout Canada. 

Centre for the Evaluation of Health Professionals Educated Abroad (CEHPEA) – An organisation created to expand and enhance services provided in Ontario to internationally educated health professionals.