0 views
OTTAWA — The federal government will spend more than $31 million on six projects meant to get internationally educated health professionals into Canada’s workforce faster, with the largest share aimed at family physicians in Ontario.
The announcement, made on October 7, includes $20 million to expand the Practice Ready Ontario program, supporting 50 additional positions per year over four years. That would produce up to 200 new family physicians ready to work in the province by 2028–29, according to officials.
Practice Ready Ontario allows experienced internationally trained physicians to become licensed through a 12-week clinical field assessment rather than the traditional two-year residency. A dedicated stream for French-speaking physicians is part of the expansion, with a focus on underserved northern and rural regions and Francophone communities.
To qualify, physicians must be Canadian permanent residents or citizens and meet education, work-experience and language requirements. Those who enter through the program commit to practising in Ontario under a three-year return-of-service agreement, working under supervised practice before becoming fully licensed for independent practice after completing the agreement and the required certification examination.
The remaining funding supports five other projects across Canada, providing resources and tools to help internationally educated physicians, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists navigate provincial and territorial licensing and prepare to work in the Canadian health sector.
The problem the money addresses is familiar: skilled newcomers facing lengthy, costly and complicated credential-recognition processes while clinics report shortages and patients report waiting. Family medicine sits at the centre of that squeeze, since a single unfilled practice can leave thousands of people without a regular point of care.
Licensing is administered with the province and the medical regulator, which means Ottawa’s contribution is leverage rather than control. If the expanded cohorts move through assessment on schedule, the first effects should be visible well before 2028 — in smaller communities that have been recruiting for years and measuring success one physician at a time.
