Family doctors in Canada: Rate of growth slowing, according to new report

Family physician numbers in Canada dropping Chief of family medicine at Markham Stouffville Hospital, Dr. Allan Grill says physicians face a huge admin burden outside of regular hours.

Canada is facing a growing crisis in its health-care system as the number of new family doctors working in the country has slowed, according to a recent report.

A report published Tuesday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) said the rate at which the number of family doctors is growing has slowed, from nearly three per cent in the years 2015 to 2017 to one per cent in 2021 to 2023.

According to a previous report by CIHI, 5.4 million or 17 per cent of Canadians aged 18 and older said they did not have access to a regular health-care provider in 2023. f

"It is a staggering number, and it's a major problem," said Dr. Allan Grill, the chief of family medicine at Markham Stouffville Hospital in Markham, Ont., in an interview with CTV News Channel.

"When people don't have access to primary care and specifically family physicians, nurse practitioners, you've got major consequences."

The reasons for this shortage are multifaceted, but Grill identified two main factors: the administrative burden on family doctors, and the increasing complexity of patient cases.

"On average, family physicians are spending 19 hours a week on things like finishing notes, filling out forms, making phone calls," Grill said. "These are all things that we're doing, not in front of the patient.”

Additionally, as patients are living longer and dealing with more chronic conditions, family doctors are spending more time with each individual, limiting the number of patients they can see.

Data from the report reveals an 18 per cent decline over the past 10 years when it comes to the number of patients family doctors take on – from an average of 1,746 patients per doctor in 2013 down to 1,430 patients in 2022.

The consequences of this shortage are dire. Without access to primary care, Canadians miss out on essential preventive services, such as vaccinations and cancer screenings, Grill said.

Chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension also go untreated, leading to more emergency department visits and increased health-care costs.

To address this crisis, Grill suggested three solutions: investing in team-based primary care, improving recruitment and retention of family physicians and expanding medical school programs focused on family medicine.

The report said team-based primary care has increased, with nearly three-quarters of pharmacists working in community-based settings in 2023.

Additionally, Grill said, "We need to train more foreign-trained doctors when they come to Canada, to get them up to speed so they can work in our high standard medical system.

"And finally, we need more medical schools to focus on training family physicians right now."

Earlier this fall, Health Minister Mark Holland said health-care funding agreements between the federal government and Canada’s provinces and territories include targets for the number of doctors that need to be hired, among other measures.

His comments followed an October report from the CIHI on the percentage of adults still trying to find a family doctor.