Calls grow to streamline doctors’ licensing as health systems struggle

ST. JOHN’S, NL – As Canada’s health care systems crumble under the weight of a shortage of doctors, the former president of the Canadian Medical Association is calling for a national pathway for doctors to enter the profession – and some provinces are OK.

Dr. Katharine Smart said in a recent interview that the current system in which each province has its own licensing system is confusing and bureaucratically cumbersome, especially for physicians trained outside of Canada.

She says a national doctor’s license could provide a single, streamlined process for verifying the credentials of foreign-trained doctors.

Smart says foreign-trained doctors come to the country hoping to practice but are often stymied by the expensive licensing process, and they leave for countries where it’s easier to get a license. Licence.

Some provinces, including Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, are working to streamline their procedures as they welcome Ukrainian doctors fleeing war to their country.

Dr. Gus Grant, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, says a national licensing system makes sense and, meanwhile, the four Atlantic provinces are discussing ways to coordinate the licensing in the region.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on September 16, 2022.

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