U.S. ‘brain drain’ could be Canada’s ‘brain gain’: Canadian Medical Association

Dr. Joss Reimer on what steps the Canadian government should be taking to welcome U.S. physicians looking to practise in Canada.

Canada must find a way to turn the United States’ “brain drain” into Canada’s “brain gain,” the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) said in a news release Thursday.

American medical and scientific professionals are no longer feeling valued in the U.S. amid mass layoffs and the elimination of health programs and research opportunities, the release said.

The Medical Council of Canada is seeing a nearly 600 per cent increase in U.S. medical graduates exploring options to practise in Canada and registering for a Canadian medical licence, CMA president Dr. Joss Reimer told CTVNews.ca on Saturday.

Reimer explained that physicians from the U.S. are leaving due to cuts to research funding and political interference, and are looking to Canada to save their careers and continue practising medicine.

“This is a good opportunity for Canada to help reduce the shortage of health professionals across the country,” Reimer said.

“On social media, physicians are reaching out to the Canadian Medical Association, asking for our advice about coming to Canada,” she said. “I had one of the most popular threads that I’ve ever put out, just welcoming a U.S. physician who expressed interest in coming to Canada. So, the interest is clear.”

Provinces including British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan have taken steps to reduce barriers and ramp up recruitment of medical professionals, the CMA said.

Health associations such as Toronto’s University Health Network, Doctors Manitoba and the Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency, along with municipalities like Williams Lake, B.C., have all launched creative recruitment efforts to bring in more medical professionals amid this “brain drain.”

Family doctors and obstetricians are the top two specialties most interested in migrating to Canada, according to Reimer.

“But we know in Canada we also need anaesthesiologists. We also need radiologists, we need cardiologists,” she said. “While family physicians are certainly our top concern in Canada, there is no need to turn away any U.S. physicians who are interested in coming to this country.”

The CMA is asking for two things: that the federal government fast-track visas for these medical professionals, and that it remove other immigration barriers, such as labour market assessments, while working with colleges to help these professionals obtain licences to practise in Canada.

“The Canadian Medical Association is urging the federal government to streamline processes to help health professionals enter Canada’s health workforce more efficiently. This must include modernizing immigration policies to support the hospitals, health authorities, provinces and territories that are out recruiting health workers today,” the CMA said in its release.

“The government should also leverage ministerial exemptions to create a streamlined, expedited pathway for qualified U.S. physicians and other health professionals to enter Canada’s health workforce more efficiently.”

The goal, Reimer explained, is to bring these individuals into the country as quickly as possible and help them obtain licences so they can provide care to Canadians.

“We want to see them coming wherever they want to work in Canada, and we’re hoping that they’ll help address some of the gaps we have in rural and remote settings,” she said. “It’s a real advantage, because the medical training is quite similar in the U.S. and Canada.”

Reimer added that physicians from the U.S. are frustrated watching their research funding disappear.

“They’re seeing politicians interfere with their practices, and they’re tired of insurance companies telling them what they can and can’t do with their patients. So they see Canada as an opportunity where they get to practise medicine the way they were trained and put the patient’s interest first. And that means a lot,” she said.