Nearly 3,000 doctors in Ontario received their licences in 2006 - a record for certificates issued in a single year by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
Of the 2,961 licences issued, 63 per cent went to doctors from outside of Ontario.
According to the college's annual report, entitled "Small Triumphs, Big Challenges," 42 per cent of certificates of registration went to international graduates and 37 per cent went to Ontario graduates.
This is the third year in a row where licences for international graduates have exceeded those given to Ontario graduates.
College president Dr. Jeff Turnbull says many important policy initiatives by the college, government, and other stakeholders have been undertaken in order to address doctor shortages.
"These initiatives help explain why we had such a robust year in licensing so many doctors," he said in a written statement.
The province also saw the highest proportion of female doctors it's seen in seven years. In 2006 women made up 31.4 per cent of the workforce and 51.1 per cent of doctors under the age of 35 were female.
The report also showed that just 9.6 per cent of doctors in Ontario were accepting new patients in 2006. This is a strong decline from 1999 where 39 per cent of family doctors were taking new patients.
The only exception in 2006 was in Northern Ontario where there was an increase in new patient intake of 2.4 per cent.
"It is evident that much more action is required and the trends flagged in this report need to be addressed," said Turnbull.
"A long-term plan is needed to create more doctors -- we cannot rely on recruiting international medical graduates as the primary solution to our physician shortage."
The average age of practising physicians was 50.9 in 2006, down from 51.7 in 2005.
The college surveyed 27,128 licensed doctors in Ontario. The response rate was 98 per cent.
With files from The Canadian Press
