Canada's population is booming — access to family doctors hasn't kept pace

Canada is going through an unprecedented growth spurt, having added well over a million people last year after a similarly historic intake in 2022.

Some economists have argued this record-setting surge could be a boon to an economy heavily dependent on immigration. A recent Desjardins report cautioned the federal government against slamming the door on non-permanent residents like students and temporary workers, who make up most of the recent newcomers.

But this breakneck pace is bringing with it some major growing pains — particularly in a health-care sector perpetually starved for resources.

The country isn't producing nearly enough homegrown primary care doctors to keep up with the country's health needs, said Dr. Kathleen Ross, a B.C. family doctor and president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).

"The truth is our health-care system is on its knees. We're not meeting the needs of the population. Our workers are burning out in droves," Ross told CBC News.

"There are definitely not enough physicians working and training. We need to train more. We are simply not keeping up with the demand and with the number of people who are retiring."

Many Canadians were struggling to find a family doctor already when the federal government allowed the number of new arrivals to increase so dramatically.

While Ottawa sets limits on the number of permanent residents, other demand-driven streams — like international students — are not capped.

Data from the OurCare initiative suggests the number of Canadians without regular access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner has spiked from 4.5 million in 2019 to an estimated 6.5 million in 2023.

That means millions of Canadians don't have face-time with a primary care physician who can help ensure longer life expectancy, prevent hospitalizations and premature deaths, foster better health outcomes and improve quality of life.

That lack of access has consequences. Unscheduled emergency room visits jumped from about 14 million in 2021-22 to 15.1 million in 2022-23, according to Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data.

The number of people entering a residency — the post-graduate training required in order to be licensed to practice medicine in Canada — may explain why so many people are struggling to get the primary care they need.

A CBC News review of medical school data shows the number of medical residents has been stagnant for the past decade — a 10-year period when the Liberal government dramatically ramped up the number of newcomers above existing immigration targets.

In 2014, 3,255 people entered postgraduate medical training, according to data from the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS).