The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reports that 569 Canadian physicians moved abroad in 1998, a significant decline from the 659 doctors who left in 1997 and a 27% drop from the 1994 peak of 777 physicians.
Doctors leaving Canada tend to be male (70%) and young, with just over half having 10 years' experience or less. A slightly higher proportion of emigrants are specialists (56%), and the majority of all physicians who leave (77%) are graduates of Canadian medical schools. The number of physician emigrants in 1998 represents approximately 1% of the active physician supply, but this varies from province to province. The low is 0.7% in Quebec and the high is 1.7% in Prince Edward Island. (Figure)
The number of emigrants is likely an underestimate because the CIHI database has difficulty tracking physicians who leave immediately after completing postgraduate training but without receiving full licensure in Canada.
The number of physicians returning to active practice in Canada in 1998 increased to 321, up from 227 in 1997. Males and females - both specialists and family physicians - tend to return in about the same proportions as those leaving. Even excluding residents, 44% of physicians returning to Canada have 10 years' experience or less.
In recent years the annual net loss has been in the range of 400 physicians. The 1998 net loss of 248 doctors, while substantially lower, is still larger than the combined annual output of the medical schools in Newfoundland, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
This column was written by Lynda Buske, Chief, Physician Resources Information Planning, CMA. Readers may send potential research topics to Patrick Sullivan (sullip{at}cma.ca; 613 731-8610 or 800 663-7336, x2126; fax 613 565-2382).