Anyone looking for a family doctor will quickly find out that there are many waitlists.

Local MP for Thunder Bay—Rainy River Marcus Powlowski says he plans on connecting with the federal government to address shortages of doctors for the region.

Powlowskit has a series of points he’ll be making to both the provincial and federal governments, along with the College of Physicians and Surgeons;

1. Have the federal government establish a national licensure for doctors. Licensing doctors in only one province at a time makes it much more difficult for doctors in one province to fill gaps in another.
2. Have the province of Ontario make Practice Ready-Assessments (PRAs) available for international medical graduates. PRAs allow international medical graduates to practice for twelve weeks as a doctor under the supervision of a Canadian doctor. After the twelve weeks, physicians are eligible for licensure. While most provinces allow PRAs and use them to address doctor shortages in rural areas, Ontario has not adopted this system.
3. Have the College of Physicians of Ontario increase the number of residency positions, especially family practice residency for foreign graduates, including in rural areas. The more students that can obtain a residency, the more doctors we will produce. These residencies may require graduates to then practice in rural areas.
4. Have the federal and provincial governments work together to allow doctors in certain countries practice in Canada without further accreditation or schooling. For example, Australia currently allows Canadian doctors to practice there. There are many countries with medical schools that are on-par with Canada’s schools. To require that doctors from these countries take the same courses again in Canada is a major deterrent for attracting doctors in Canada.
5. Increasing the number of people studying to become nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

He plans to formally share his plan with the Minister of Health in early Fall.