Questions why more foreign-trained doctors aren’t allowed to practice in Canada.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski raised the topic during a federal health committee meeting.
He says nothing substantial has changed in licensing in his 36 years as a medical doctor.
“There’s always been a lot of foreign doctors in Canada that we could, should we wish to, provide them with a pathway to upgrade their skills if necessary so they could practice in Canada. But why hasn’t it happened in 36 years? asks Powlowski.
He feels there are a few reasons.
“I’m suggesting maybe there’s some protectionism amongst the league, the medical profession, in not making it easier for foreign doctors to get work here. The second is the possibility that the provinces don’t want to have more billing numbers.”
Powlowski says that increases the amount of money being paid out to doctors.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s Dr. Guylaine Lefebvre says some ethical issues come into play when talking about foreign-trained doctors.
“It takes a lot of energy for a country to train a physician to become a physician, and we shouldn’t be seen as people who make it too easy to actually grab from poorer nations to bring them into the country,” says Dr. Lefebvre.
