Ottawa giving province $6M to hire up to 90 family doctors for rural, northern communities

As health ministers from across Canada gather in Winnipeg this week to discuss funding, the federal health minister arrived early Wednesday, promising Manitoba $6 million toward the goal of hiring as many as 90 more family doctors over the next three years.

The funds will be used to expand Manitoba’s practice-ready assessment program, which provides an accelerated licensing pathway for internationally trained physicians who are eligible, to add doctors in rural and northern communities.

“Every single Manitoban deserves to know that, no matter where they live, they have access to quality care,” provincial Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said at a news conference in Winnipeg alongside federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel.

“We know that for rural and northern communities, that means having a doctor not only available, but it means having that doctor available at the right time.”

Michel said Ottawa has been working with provinces, territories, colleges and regulators to accelerate accreditation for internationally trained doctors and nurses to enter Canada’s workforce.

With the funding, as many as 90 new family doctors will be ready to work in Manitoba by 2028-29, she said.

“This will help boost access to health care in the province, especially in rural, remote and Indigenous communities,” Michel said.

Manitoba has added 370 net new doctors since since the NDP formed government, Asagwara said.

“Before 2023, we saw a net loss of doctors and nurses and allied health-care workers from Manitoba,” the minister said.

“We were trending in the exact opposite and extreme direction.” The province changed course by working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, post-secondary institutions, municipal leaders and establishing an office dedicated to recruiting and retaining physicians, Asagwara said

“This is real progress, but we know we have to keep building on that progress to make sure we’re delivering quality care to all Manitobans, no matter where they live,” the health minister said.

“We’ve already been doing the work up until now to identify all of those municipal communities that have really struggled to recruit and retain doctors.”

The province restored the Rural Physician Retention and Recruitment Fund dedicated to rural and northern communities and is working directly with municipalities, Asagwara said, pointing to Carberry as an example.

“They have a health action committee in the community that when we recruit doctors there, they’re showing those folks where you’re going to get child care, where you’re going to get housing, who’s going to fix your car if it breaks down,” Asagwara said.

“There’s a lot that municipal leaders and communities can offer in terms of that complete package that makes working in these communities very attractive. As a government, we can’t do that. That’s the work that we rely on our partners to really champion.”

Carberry has struggled to staff its hospital emergency department. It was scheduled to open only one day this week, Prairie Mountain Health’s online schedule shows.

“I don’t think there’s ever going to be enough health care to solve all the health-care needs, especially with Canada’s aging population,” Association of Manitoba Municipalities president Kathy Valentino said after Wednesday’s announcement. She applauded the province’s efforts to work with municipalities to address the physician shortage, and called the $6-million commitment from the federal government to recruit more doctors “a good start.”

Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook said more work is needed to retain the physicians already here.

“The last statistics I saw from Doctors Manitoba indicated that Manitoba was a net exporter of physicians,” Cook said.

The physician advocacy organization reported that in 2025 Manitoba had a net loss of 8.3 doctors per 1,000 residents to interprovincial migration, the second-worst rate in Canada.

Doctors Manitoba’s member survey that year showed 22 per cent of practising physicians planned to retire or relocate within three years, citing systemic frustrations, excessive administrative burdens and burnout. The organization reported that the province historically retains fewer medical school graduates than the national average, losing a third to other provinces.

“Doctors have been pretty clear about some of the reasons why that is; burnout and isolation, particularly in remote and rural communities, is a factor,” Cook said. “Doctors will also point to a need for things like team-based care, which again, helps with burnout and isolation.” Manitoba needs to be more competitive with other jurisdictions, she said.

“We are competing with every other province for the same doctors,” she said.

chris.kitching@winnipegfreepress.com

carol.sanders@winnipegfreepress.com