Doctors want the option to work across provincial borders

A doctor is shown in an exam room at a health clinic in Calgary on July 14, 2023. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press)

Doctors are calling on provincial and territorial governments to remove the “barriers” preventing them from working where they are needed in Canada.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is highlighting the internal barriers that it says are preventing more patients from receiving care amid the shortage of family doctors and hospital staff.

The national advocacy organization for doctors says it wants lawmakers to update their physician licensing models as an “important step” to address the challenges facing the country’s health-care system.

Under the current system, most physicians face a “burdensome” application process and thousands of dollars in fees to obtain separate licences for each province or territory they want to practise in, the CMA said in a news release Monday.

Provinces and territories also have different rules that make it “challenging” for international medical graduates to become licensed to practise medicine, the CMA added.

“While important steps have been taken to expedite pan-Canadian mobility of physicians, now is the time to knock down the barriers that still stand in the way,” CMA president Dr. Joss Reimer wrote in the statement.

Atlantic Canada already has moved to make it easier for doctors to practise across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with the launch of the Atlantic Physician Registry in May 2023.

In October of that year, federal, provincial and territorial health ministers pledged to develop a new process for physicians in good standing to practise across the country “without significant delay or the need to meet additional regulatory requirements.”

When asked by CTVNews.ca about the progress of its October 2023 commitment, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said in an email Monday it is working with provincial and territorial governments and key health system stakeholders to identify solutions.

The federal government also announced in July 2024 more than $47 million in federal funding for “innovative projects” including the National Registry of Physicians, which will centralize data from all physician regulators across the country, Health Canada and PHAC said. Several medical regulatory authorities already have joined the registry, with more expected in the coming months, they added.

They said the federal government is also funding a project to improve physician registration as part of efforts to reduce licensing-related red tape in Canada.