SuppliedMillions of Canadians lack access to a family doctor, yet medical schools maintain strict enrolment caps and rigid admission requirements. Unsurprisingly, this is worsening an already critical health care crisis. This physician shortage creates a devastating cycle: overworked doctors face burnout while patients endure lengthy wait times and delayed care, often leading to preventable complications. To address this growing crisis, medical schools must fundamentally reform their approach to physician training.
Canada’s health care crisis has reached a critical point. About 6.5 million Canadians do not have a family doctor. In many cases, this forces them to seek routine care in overcrowded emergency rooms where wait times exceed eight hours, particularly in rural areas. The shortage of primary care providers leads to delayed diagnoses, deteriorating health outcomes, and escalating health-care costs.
Additionally, it’s projected that nearly one in four Canadians will be over 65 by 2030. With an aging population comes a growing demand for geriatric care and chronic disease management. This will place unprecedented strain on an already overwhelmed system. Meanwhile, widespread burnout among health-care providers has created an alarming cycle. Experienced doctors are leaving the profession faster than new ones can be trained. The current situation threatens the very foundation of our health-care system.
As governments remain passive in addressing the critical physician shortage that threatens to collapse our health-care system, medical schools must step forward as agents of change. By expanding enrolment capacity and modernizing admissions criteria, these institutions can help alleviate the health-care crisis. Additionally, it will build a more diverse and competent physician workforce equipped to serve Canada’s evolving health-care needs.
Canada’s medical education system is critically undersized, with 17 medical schools admitting only about 3,000 students annually. This starkly contrasts the United States’ (U.S.) network of 200 schools and Australia’s proactive expansion of medical training capacity. Having so few medical schools in Canada concentrates medical graduates into specific regions, directly contributing to inconsistent access to health care across Canada.
The geographic distribution of these limited institutions compounds the crisis. The disparity is evident in British Columbia (B.C.), where a single medical school serves 5.7 million residents, while Alberta maintains two schools for 4.9 million people. This imbalance and admission policies, such as the University of Manitoba’s 95 per cent in-province reservation, create a postal code lottery for medical education access.
Canada’s restrictive medical education system creates a devastating cycle of talent loss. Limited domestic opportunities are forcing many qualified candidates to pursue medical education abroad in countries like Ireland, Australia, and the Caribbean — contributing to a brain drain. This exodus has long-term consequences for Canadian health care since physicians typically establish practices where they complete their training. When graduates relocate to these countries for opportunity, provinces with fewer medical schools struggle to provide enough health care to its population. Limited residency positions for students who wish to return only perpetuates this shortage.
The problem is further compounded by the uneven distribution of residency placements across provinces. These placements often determine students’ chances of becoming a local physician, intensifying regional disparities in access to health care.
To address Canada’s physician shortage crisis, three critical reforms are needed.
First, medical schools must expand capacity strategically in underserved regions that need new medical programs while expanding the existing ones. B.C., Saskatchewan, and Manitoba desperately need more medical school seats to match their populations’ needs. However, government support is essential for expanding and establishing new medical programs.
Second, Canada must increase and redistribute residency positions more evenly across provinces. Since physicians typically practice where they complete their residency, this geographic rebalancing is essential for ensuring equitable health-care access nationwide.
Third, a robust retention strategy is crucial. The government must partner with medical schools to implement tuition reimbursement programs targeting high-need areas. This investment would alleviate the financial burden on new graduates while ensuring underserved communities receive consistent health-care coverage.
These co-ordinated reforms would increase the supply of new physicians and ensure their distribution aligns with community needs across Canada.
Many of my peers at the University of Alberta have shared that, despite their passion and potential, they are advised to abandon their medical aspirations or seek education abroad due to limited capacity and stringent admissions policies. This uncertainty increases stress levels, leading to burnout, anxiety, and depression. Moreover, it can create a harmful environment where peers become competitors rather than collaborators.
Canada’s medical education system has created an unsustainable paradox — while millions lack adequate health care, the system forces qualified candidates to abandon their medical aspirations or seek costly alternatives abroad. The current system demands years of rigorous preparation and significant financial investment from applicants while offering no guarantees. Something needs to change. The future of Canadian health care depends on our willingness to implement bold, systemic changes now.
