Canada simplifies immigration process for internationally trained doctors

Canada has exempted internationally trained doctors from various immigration job and work experience requirements, meaning they now face fewer restrictions when it comes to living and working here.

Under a temporary public policy introduced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on April 25, the waivers affect the Canadian experience class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW) and how points are earned through the Fast entry‘s comprehensive classification system for Canadian work experience and arranged employment.

“These measures will allow more foreign physicians to qualify for federal permanent residency economic programs administered by Express Entry and qualify for more points in the Express Entry system, increasing their chances of being invited to a applications for permanent residence are increasing,” the IRCC notes. on its website.

Many physicians working in Canada are self-employed and so their work experience has not been recognized as eligible under the CEC to date. Doctors who come to Canada also often don’t receive job offers for an entire year, making those job offers ineligible for the FSW to date.

The temporary policy that went into effect late last month seeks to lift these restrictions for internationally trained doctors coming to work in Canada.

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“With these waivers, qualified physicians have a greater chance of meeting FSW and CEC eligibility requirements and participating in the Express Entry pool,” Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser noted in amendments to his ministerial instructions.

“Furthermore, with relevant and additional changes to the Ministerial Instructions for Express Entry, foreign national doctors will be more likely to receive a Invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence.”

Ottawa’s move to encourage more international doctors to emigrate to Canada comes in the wake of a Royal Bank of Canada report saying Canada’s doctor shortage is already at crisis levels and will only get worse unless the country attract more international doctors. trained physicians through federal and provincial immigration programs.

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“Canada is estimated to be short of nearly 44,000 physicians, including more than 30,000 general practitioners and general practitioners, before the end of the decade,” RBC reported in its Evidence: Canada needs more doctors – and fast report.

“Although 2,400 GP positions had been advertised on government websites by the end of 2021, only 1,496 GPs left residency training that year.”

In Canada, general practitioners, National Occupational Classification 2021 (NOC) code 31102, earn an average annual income of $216,833, but that varies wildly depending on where in the country the physician practices and how many years of experience he or she has, the federal job hunting and career planning Job Bank website reveals.

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On the low end, these doctors may have a median annual salary of $76,759, while the high-end median annual salary is $451,997.

Specialists can have even higher incomes, with an average annual income of $273,510. At the bottom, the median annual income is $100,694 and at the top, $557,366.

Job Bank describes the outlook for doctors and specialists as “very good”, the highest ranking, nationwide for the next eight years.

There are many programs that allow doctors to immigrate to Canada and the country has certainly thrown wide the doors to immigration.

In his Immigration Level Plan 2023-2025, Ottawa has set its 2023 immigration target at 465,000 new permanent residents. The country will welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024 and another 500,000 in 2025. That totals 1.45 million immigrants to Canada over the next three years.

Canada is looking for individuals with a range of skills, education and experience that can help them find employment in Canada and successfully integrate into Canadian society.

Provinces and territories can recruit physicians through their PNPs

In addition to the CEC and FSW, doctors can use the Provincial nominated programs (PNP) if they meet specific regional labor market needs and plan to settle in that province or territory. Counties can recruit candidates from the Express Entry pool or they can nominate individuals under their non-Express Entry paper streams.

Across the country there are PNP streams specifically to help doctors immigrate to Canada, included:

• the Saskatchewan Health Professionals stream;
• Nova Scotia’s Physician Stream and Labor Market Priorities for Physician Stream, and;
• Stream from the British Columbia Health Authority.

But before a doctor can practice in Canada, he or she must have his or her qualifications recognized.

The national organization that sets standards for physicians, including migrant physicians, is the Ottawa-based Medical Council of Canada (MCC). It does not license or license doctors. That responsibility belongs to the provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities.

Instead, the role of the MCC is to grant a medical qualification known as the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC) to medical graduates who:

• have passed the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part I and Part 2, or an acceptable clinical assessment deemed comparable to the MCCQE Part II, and;
• have satisfactorily completed at least 12 months of acceptable postgraduate training or its equivalent.

With an LMCC document in hand, physicians who plan to practice in Canada must then enroll in the Canadian Medical Register to comply with the Canadian Standard, a set of academic qualifications that qualifies an applicant for full licensure in every Canadian province and territory.

General Practitioners applying for a license to practice medicine in a Canadian jurisdiction for the first time can only be fully licensed if they meet the following:

• hold a medical degree from a medical school that, at the time the candidate completed the program, was listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools;
• be a graduate of the Medical Council of Canada;
• have successfully completed postgraduate training in allopathic medicine appropriate to the discipline and an evaluation by a recognized authority, and;
• hold a certification from the College of Family Physicians of Canada or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the Collège des médecins du Québec.

That is for full licensure to practice anywhere in Canada. Many foreign-trained doctors start their practice with a provisional license.

In Canada, a foreign-trained physician’s credentials may meet the licensing requirements of one province but not another.

MCC provides physicians with a credential verification service

The MCC provides a credential verification service through a website, DoctorsApply.ca. This is an extensive website where medical students and graduates can create an account.

PhysiciansApply.ca offers a wide range of features and services to assist medical students and graduates in the process of becoming a practicing physician in Canada.

Some of those features and services include:

• applying for exams including the MCCQE1 and MCCQE2;
• medical registration;
• sharing credentials with medical regulatory agencies and other organizations, and;
• provide an orientation to the communication and cultural challenges faced by physicians new to Canada.

As an International Medical Graduate, the first step for a doctor who plans to practice in Canada is to see if their medical school is readily acceptable to the licensing body, the medical college, in each province.

It is the doctor’s responsibility to check that his or her medical school is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, something that can be done by visiting WDOMS.org.

Once a doctor has found his or her university in that online directory, the next step is to check the “Sponsor Note” tab and see if it says “Canada Note”. This means that medical degrees obtained from this medical school are acceptable to the provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities in Canada and therefore acceptable to all medical organizations in Canada.

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A challenge for many internationally trained doctors who immigrate to Canada is the lack of places to stay, a bottleneck in the country’s current healthcare system.

“Investments will be required to expand the capacity of hospital and university networks, add faculty and assessors, and increase residential spaces in the Canadian medical system,” notes RBC.

“More residence spaces are also needed to match the increase in quotas for medical students. And streamlining the recognition of degrees for internationally trained physicians and international medical graduates will be critical.”