The national physician pool is aging but marginally larger than it was 5 years ago. Canadians are also increasingly more likely to be treated by a female physician, while it's more likely a graduate of a Canadian medical school will remain within Canada or eventually return home to hang up a shingle after a stint abroad.
Those are among trends evident in the Canadian Institute for Health Information's latest annual report on the supply, migration and distribution of physicians in Canada (2005).
The CIHI report indicates the number of physicians in Canada grew by 5.3% between 2001 and 2005, (see Table 1), although their average age increased to 48.9 years from 47.6. Female physicians constituted 32.5% of the workforce, as compared to 30.2%.
Table 1
The national average of physicians per 100 000 population is 190, with Nova Scotia having the most at 218, followed by Quebec 215, Yukon 205, British Columbia 199, Newfoundland & Labrador 193, Alberta 188, Manitoba 179, Ontario 176, New Brunswick 172, Saskatchewan 156, P.E.I. 144 and N.W.T. 103. Nunavut brings up the rear with a scant 46.
The statistics also indicate Ontario is the only jurisdiction in the country with more specialists per capita than family practitioners. In fact, Ontario is only saved by a pair of territories from being the most difficult place in the country to find a family doctor. On average, there are 98 family physicians per 100 000 Canadians, led by Yukon 183, Nova Scotia 118, British Columbia 111, Quebec 109, Alberta 102, New Brunswick 102, Newfoundland & Labrador 99, Manitoba 94, Saskatchewan 89, PEI 89, Ontario 85, N.W.T. 71 and Nunavut 43.
There are 92 specialists per 100 000 Canadians, led by Quebec 106, Nova Scotia 100, Newfoundland & Labrador 94, Ontario 92, British Columbia 88, Alberta 86, Manitoba 86, New Brunswick 70, Saskatchewan 67, P.E.I. 55, NW.T. 33, Yukon 22, and Nunavut 3. — Wayne Kondro, CMAJ