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Ottawa Commits $20 Million to Expand Practice Ready Ontario, Fast-Tracking Up to 200 Internationally Trained Family Physicians
Published Date: October 9, 2026

New federal money adds 200 positions over four years

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Ontario Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced on October 7 that Ottawa will put more than $31 million into six projects designed to help internationally educated health professionals join Canada's health workforce faster. The largest share, $20 million, goes to expanding Practice Ready Ontario.

According to Health Canada, the money will support "the creation of 50 additional positions per year, over four years," resulting in up to 200 new family physicians ready to work in the province by 2028–29. The department said a key focus will be "to improve access to primary care in underserved northern and rural regions, as well as Francophone communities in Ontario," supported by a specific stream for French-speaking internationally educated family physicians.

The federal contribution sits on top of Ontario's own investment. Jones said the province is putting more than $25 million into PRO to support 150 participants annually starting in 2026/27, as part of its goal of connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care by 2029.

A 12-week assessment instead of residency

Launched in June 2023, PRO is administered by Touchstone Institute, a Toronto-based non-profit, in partnership with the Government of Ontario, Ontario Health and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), the licensing body for all physicians in the province. The program follows the Medical Council of Canada's (MCC) pan-Canadian standards for practice-ready assessment.

Rather than repeating roughly two years of family medicine residency, candidates who already have independent practice experience abroad demonstrate their competence through a 12-week clinical field assessment in an Ontario community. From application to the start of practice, the process can take less than a year, compared with three to five years on other routes to licensure.

According to the program website, applicants must meet baseline requirements including:

  • Canadian citizenship or permanent residence
  • A medical degree from a school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools
  • Proof of English language proficiency
  • The Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC), required MCC examinations and the Therapeutics Decision-Making (TDM) exam
  • At least 48 months of combined postgraduate training and independent practice as a family physician
  • At least 960 hours of family medicine practice in the past three years

Selection is competitive, and meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee a place.

Three years of return of service before full licensure

Before starting the clinical assessment, candidates must sign a three-year return of service (ROS) agreement with Ontario's Ministry of Health, committing to practise in an eligible Ontario community. During that period they hold a licence for supervised practice. Full licensure for independent practice follows once they have completed the agreement and passed the CFPC's Certification Examination in Family Medicine (CCFP).

$11 million for five national projects

The same announcement directed about $11 million to five other projects across Canada that will give internationally educated physicians, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists better resources and practical tools for navigating provincial and territorial licensing. The organizations involved include the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy, the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators, the National Nursing Assessment Service, the Medical Council of Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Ottawa says internationally educated health professionals often face lengthy, costly and complicated credential recognition. Statistics Canada estimates that only about 60% of those employed in Canada are working in the field they trained for. Budget 2024 set aside up to $77.1 million to help integrate them into the health workforce, and Budget 2025 committed $97 million over five years to a new Foreign Credential Recognition Action Fund.

Immigration and licensing moving in tandem

The PRO funding is part of a broader federal-provincial effort to recruit and integrate front-line medical professionals, working through both immigration policy and licensing reform.

On the immigration side, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a package of measures for doctors on December 8, 2025:

  • A dedicated federal permanent residence pathway through a new Express Entry category for Physicians with Canadian Work Experience
  • An additional 5,000 spaces for physicians under provincial and territorial nominee programs
  • 14-day work permit processing for physicians nominated by a province or territory

The category went live in 2026. As of publication, IRCC has held three physician draws, issuing 891 invitations to apply (ITAs):

  • February 19: 391 invitations, minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 169
  • June 24: 271 invitations, minimum CRS of 223
  • September 3: 229 invitations, minimum CRS of 198

On the licensing side, new Ontario legislation took effect on January 1, 2026, allowing physicians, surgeons and nurses licensed in other provinces to be authorized to practise in Ontario in as little as two business days once their credentials are validated. A range of other regulated professions can obtain authorization in as little as 10 days.

Why licensing is a provincial matter

Most regulated professions in Canada, including health care, law, engineering and most skilled trades, are licensed by the provinces. Comparatively few private-sector occupations, such as pilots, aircraft mechanics and air traffic controllers, are subject to compulsory national licensing by the federal government. That is why Ottawa's role in easing doctor shortages runs mainly through funding and immigration, while provincial regulators continue to set the bar for who can practise.

Friendly reminder: There are many pathways to immigrate to Canada. We recommend first using UNA AI to generate an objective and neutral immigration plan, so you can gain an initial understanding of the possible immigration pathways and their requirements, and then choose to proceed with one-on-one consultations with a licensed Canadian immigration consultant partnered with UNA.
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联邦拨款2,000万加元扩容安省PRO项目，最多200名国际受训家庭医生将提速取得执照
Ottawa Commits $20 Million to Expand Practice Ready Ontario, Fast-Tracking Up to 200 Internationally Trained Family Physicians
On October 7, 2026, the federal government announced $20 million to expand Practice Ready Ontario (PRO), adding 50 positions a year for four years so that up to 200 internationally trained family physicians can be ready to practise in Ontario by 2028–29, including through a dedicated stream for French-speaking physicians and with a focus on underserved northern, rural and Francophone communities. PRO replaces the traditional two-year residency with a 12-week clinical field assessment, allowing experienced doctors to become licensed in under a year rather than the three to five years typical of other routes. Participants sign a three-year return of service agreement and practise under supervision, earning full independent licensure only after completing that commitment and passing the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) certification exam. The funding is the latest step in a coordinated federal-provincial push on health workforce shortages: Ottawa has already invited 891 physicians to apply for permanent residence in 2026 through a dedicated Express Entry category, and Ontario now lets doctors and nurses licensed elsewhere in Canada start work within days.
10/09/2026
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IRCC Updates Job Offer Genuineness Guidance: Home-Based Businesses Can Support Employer-Specific Work Permits
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) revised its officer instructions on assessing the genuineness of job offers for employer-specific work permits on September 17, 2026, confirming that home-based businesses can make genuine offers to foreign workers and that a residential address is not, on its own, a reason for doubt. The revised guidance no longer says employers must have a physical location in Canada where the foreign worker will work, and it notes that a business address may differ from where employees actually work. Officers are told to consider all relevant evidence rather than treat any single factor as decisive. At the same time, the instructions state that a company with no employees, existing in name only and set up to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals, is not an operating business. The update also adds a procedural fairness step: an officer with concerns about an offer should send a letter explaining them, and the employer is given 15 days to submit evidence directly to IRCC. Employers must still show that they genuinely conduct business, need the worker they want to hire and can meet the wages and other terms they have offered.
10/08/2026
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Ontario Raises Earnings Points Ceiling, Awarding 10 Points to Candidates Earning $80,000 or More
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) announced on Oct. 7, 2026, that it has added a new top bracket to the scoring grid of the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream (OWPS), awarding 10 points under the "Canadian work experience: earnings history" factor to candidates with annual earnings of $80,000 or more, two points above the previous maximum of 8 points for earnings of $70,000 or more. The change took effect on Oct. 5 and has been applied automatically to affected profiles. Earnings are based on a Notice of Assessment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) within the past five years, and higher-scoring candidates stand a better chance of being invited to apply for provincial nomination. Launched on June 26 and opened for intake on Aug. 4, the OWPS is currently Ontario's only provincial nomination route to permanent residence for foreign nationals, while a second phase of the overhaul, adding Priority Healthcare, Entrepreneur and Exceptional Talent streams, still has no launch date.
10/08/2026
BC省第二轮偏远医疗支持抽签发出33份邀请，分数线抬高至60分
B.C. issues 33 invitations in second rural health support draw as cutoff climbs to 60
On Sept 17, 2026, the British Columbia (B.C.) Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) held the second draw under its Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative (TRHSI), issuing 33 invitations to apply for provincial nomination to cleaning and security staff employed by a public health authority in a rural or remote part of the province, with a minimum score of 60 — 10 points above the 50-point cutoff used in the first draw on July 23, 2026 — while the number of invitations fell from 60 to 33, bringing the two-draw total to 93 invitations to apply (ITAs), or roughly 37% of the initiative's cap of 250 nominations. TRHSI is a one-time, time-limited permanent residence (PR) pathway launched when B.C. restructured its nominee program on April 23, 2026; registration opened June 15, 2026, and eligibility is confined to three National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes — 65312, 65310 and 64410 — with applicants required to have completed nine months of continuous full-time work with the same employer, in the same eligible region and in the same occupation. The registration window was originally set to close at midnight on Aug 31 but was extended to 11:59 p.m. on Oct 7, 2026 because of wildfire-related impacts. The wider context is that B.C.'s 2026 nomination allocation rose to 6,254 after the federal government added 1,000 spaces in August, with at least 35% of nominations required to go to candidates outside Metro Vancouver; and that since June 9, 2026, base Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nominees applying for PR no longer need to wait for an Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR) before applying for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) — a federal temporary measure running to Dec 31, 2026 that matters especially to TRHSI applicants, who have no Express Entry-aligned option.
09/20/2026
加拿大快速通道连续两日抽签：CEC分数线回落至519分，高管类别门槛创设立以来新低
Canada holds back-to-back Express Entry draws: CEC cut-off eases to 519, while the senior managers category sets a record low
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09/15/2026
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Newfoundland and Labrador issues just 36 provincial nomination invitations on September 10, the smallest round of the year
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09/14/2026
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Alberta Issues 722 Invitations Across Three Early-September Draws, With Tech and Health Care Rounds Both Cutting Off at 60
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09/12/2026
加拿大恢复工签持有人免学签就读政策，有效期至2027年底
Canada Restores Study-Permit Exemption for Work Permit Holders, in Force Until the End of 2027
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a temporary public policy on September 9, 2026 that allows foreign nationals holding a valid work permit to enrol in a course of six months or less without applying for a study permit, even if the course ends after the period of stay authorized on their first entry to Canada. Signed by Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Lena Metlege Diab on August 5, the policy took effect on September 4, runs until December 31, 2027, and may be revoked at any time. It revives a measure of the same name introduced in June 2023 that expired on June 27 of this year, but with a narrower reach: the earlier policy let eligible workers, including those on maintained status, study programs of any length without a study permit, whereas the new one requires applicants to hold a valid work permit and waives only the requirement that a course be completed within the initial authorized period of stay. As of June 30, 2026, roughly 1.55 million foreign nationals in Canada held a work permit only, and about 630,000 held a study permit. IRCC says the measure is intended to help workers already in the country, such as tradespeople, nurses and laboratory technicians, upgrade their skills and credentials to fill gaps in critical sectors, and that it does not change the government's overall target of reducing temporary residents to less than 5 percent of the population.
09/10/2026
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RBC Report Urges Ottawa to Scrap Express Entry Category Draws and Return to Pure Points-Based Selection
On September 1, 2026, RBC Thought Leadership, the think tank arm of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), published a report titled A Smarter Immigration Strategy, arguing that Express Entry has drifted away from the purpose it was built for: since category-based selection was introduced in 2023, lower-scoring candidates have been able to jump the queue through an occupational or language category, while higher-scoring applicants waiting in the pool are left behind. Citing government data, the report finds that the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score needed for an invitation through the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is "over 100 points more, on average" than what some category draws require, a gap that has been especially visible in the 2026 rounds: through September 4, CEC cutoffs have stayed between 507 and 523, while the French-language proficiency category fell as low as 382 and the February 19 physician draw cleared at just 169 — the lowest cutoff any category draw has ever recorded. In response, RBC puts forward seven recommendations, including inviting the highest-ranked candidates first, tightening or eliminating category-based draws at the federal level, reversing the 2022 legislation that authorized the categories, setting a minimum share of economic immigration for Express Entry, reintroducing a minimum cutoff based on core factors, devolving targeted category selection to the provinces and territories, and committing to regular recalibration of the CRS formula. It bears emphasizing that these are the policy recommendations of a private institution, not a government decision. As of September 9, neither Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) nor Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab had responded publicly to the report, and draws for the French-language, healthcare and physician categories are still running as scheduled; IRCC did, however, consult this spring on merging the three federal high-skilled programs and recalibrating the CRS, and again from August to early September on the shape of the 2027 categories, saying it is considering "narrowing" the number or eligibility scope of labour-shortage categories. The 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan is due to be tabled in Parliament by November 1, at which point the overall direction of federal economic immigration should become clearer.
09/09/2026
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