La Grande Séduction? The Immigration of Foreign-Trained Physicians to Canada, c. 1954-76

Abstract

Over the course of its history, Canada has always welcomed a steady number of foreign-born and foreign-trained doctors; however, the period 1954-1976 witnessed a unique event in twentieth-century Canadian medical and immigration history. In the context of a “national doctor shortage,” many provinces aggressively recruited doctors from abroad, licensing over 10,000 new foreign-trained physicians, more doctors than the provinces graduated domestically during this period. By the mid-1970s many communities—particularly those in rural and or remote regions—were serviced primarily by foreign-trained doctors. This essay examines this experiment in managing physician resources through targeted immigration, exploring regional differences in the goals and outcomes of these practices. The results of the dramatic influx of foreign-trained doctors were threefold: (1) the period witnessed a steady reduction in the inequality of physicians between provinces; (2) foreign-trained doctors were more likely to set up practice in non-urban settings, creating an urban-rural divide in physician services; and (3) the arrival of thousands of foreign-trained doctors managed to save the embryonic universal health insurance systems that had been mandated by the 1966 Medicare Act of Canada. The essay concludes by placing the Canadian reliance on international medical graduates in this period in a broader international context and making comparisons to contemporary Canadian health policy.