Canada must seize 'window of opportunity' to attract U.S. scientists, health-care workers: medical association

Canada has a unique chance to become a medical and scientific powerhouse — if it moves quickly to scoop up professionals leaving the United States in the wake of health cuts and layoffs, the head of the Canadian Medical Association says.

Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, says American medical professionals often face two big barriers when trying to emigrate from the U.S. to Canada, as they "may need to go through immigration, or they may need to get their training — if they did some of it in the United States — recognized in Canada."

Her organization is urging the federal government to ensure visas are fast-tracked for American physicians interested in moving north and other unnecessary steps in the immigration process "get removed so that we don't miss this window of opportunity."

Reimer says the best way for Canada to attract more American talent is for the federal government to work on immigration pathways while provinces and territories work on licensing issues with their regulatory bodies.

"We really have a window to be able to find a silver lining in all of the things that are happening in the U.S., to bring a wealth of expertise and physicians to Canada," she said.

It's unclear how many U.S. health-care workers and researchers will ultimately emigrate to Canada due to recent funding and job slashes down south, but Reimer says their interest is clear.

The Medical Council of Canada, which assesses and validates physician credentials, said that over the past six months, about 120 medical graduates per month in the U.S. opened an online account on its website — an initial step in pursuing a Canadian licence.

That's up from about 10 new online accounts opened every month by American graduates during the same period the year before.

4 provinces fast-track path for U.S. docs

Four provinces — Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia — have already established a fast-tracked path for U.S. physicians to become licensed, according to Reimer.

Manitoba is not yet one of those provinces, but its premier says his government is trying to take advantage of internationally trained doctors looking to leave the U.S.

Provincial recruiters were working with six doctors just last week in efforts to bring them to Manitoba, according to Premier Wab Kinew.

"We're going beyond just knocking down the barriers to entry," he told reporters on Thursday. "We're also in the design stages of an advertising campaign."

Neighbouring Saskatchewan launched its own campaign this week, targeting doctors amid what the province called an "uncertain political climate in the United States."

Katrina Philopoulos, the director of physician recruitment at Nova Scotia Health, says her province has been engaging with physicians in the U.S. for several years and is starting to see jumps in recruitment.

Nova Scotia saw an increase in American doctors after it became the first Canadian province to allow U.S. board-certified physicians to practise there without extra training in March 2023, Philopoulos said.

Nova Scotia Health expects 15 U.S. doctors to join its workforce over the next year, she said.

International medical recruits make up 30 per cent of Nova Scotia Health's total recruits, according to Philopoulos. Seven per cent are from the U.S., and Philopoulos said that number is expected to increase.

Although not every physician that the provincial health authority engages with will immediately move to Nova Scotia, that relationship-building can be beneficial down the road, she said.

"If they have decided or are willing to consider an alternate location, then Nova Scotia is on the [list] for them."

'This is the sunnier side'

Reimer said while there's always room for improvement in Canada's universal health-care system, and it can mean less control for physicians in some respects, it is "in many ways … so much better" than the American system.

For example, U.S. doctors tend to deal with more paperwork than their Canadian counterparts due the country's lack of universal health-care coverage, she said.

They also don't always get to make the best decision for a patient if insurers get in the way, or if those patients are unable to pay for care, Reimer said. That highlights "a wonderful difference" between the Canadian and American systems.

The U.S. does tend to pay higher salaries for family physicians than almost every other country, but those doctors are more likely to get sued than anywhere else in the world, Reimer said.

"The dollar value doesn't reflect all of the take-home income concerns, at the end of the day," she said.

"We hope that, by demonstrating to them that there's an option up here, that they really will see that this is the sunnier side."

The Canadian Medical Association welcomes any physician who wants to make the move to Canada, but there's a dire need for family doctors, Reimer said. A Health Canada report published in January found that Canada's family doctor shortage was near 23,000.

An estimated 6.5 million Canadians don't have a family doctor.

U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to Canada's economic sovereignty have been top of mind in Canada's current federal election campaign, but Reimer wants more party leaders to push harder to attract American health-care workers and researchers.

Health needs to become a front-and-centre issue in every political party's platform, because it's interconnected with the economy, Reimer said.

"We know that income is the number 1 determinant of health, and so that means our health is also being threatened," she said.

"So far, I haven't heard a lot from the political parties about how they're planning to improve health and health care in Canada."