3 northern communities benefit from Ontario’s internationally trained family physician program | CBC News

It’s only been a few weeks since a family doctor with Ontario’s “Practice Ready” program moved to Gore Bay, and the arrival has already made an impact on the area.

Ron Lane, mayor of the town of 900 residents, says the new arrival has already helped diminish wait times for medical appointments for people living on the western end of Manitoulin Island. 

“There was getting to be a wait time to get an appointment,” he said. 

“We now have another full-time doctor so that’s already starting to make a difference.”

Lane says Gore Bay applied to be considered as a host community for the program last year. 

In a press release, the province explains that the Practice Ready Ontario is an initiative that “breaks down barriers for internationally trained family physicians to practice medicine in a rural or northern community.”

Three northern Ontario towns or cities were selected to become one of the 21 host communities for the 100 candidates in the 2025 cohort: Sudbury, Gore Bay and Cochrane.

The family doctors in this program have already completed a field assessment of 12 weeks. The program requires the physicians to stay in their host community for three years. 

Completion of the program helps accelerate the licensing process for these physicians that were trained outside of Canada. 

The family physicians decide which community they will move to as part of their program completion. 

Lane says their new physician, who was initially trained in Pakistan, chose Gore Bay for its small town charm. 

“When he came here to visit he met with our doctors, representatives of town council and other community members and he was quite pleased with what he saw.” 

“He could’ve gone anywhere but he chose to come here.” 

Ontario hopes the Practice Ready program will help connect 120,000 people to care in the coming years. 

“Our government is continuing to take bold and innovative action to ensure everyone who wants a primary care provider can connect to one,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. 

“Through the Practice Ready Ontario program, we are taking another step to connect more people to world-class primary care right in their own communities, now and for years to come.” 

The province launched the Practice Ready Ontario program in 2023.