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Douglas Todd: What's behind Canada's doctor shortage? One factor rarely gets discussed

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05.05.2026

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Douglas Todd: What's behind Canada's doctor shortage? One factor rarely gets discussed

Family physicians in Canada don’t work as many hours as doctors did 30 years ago

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Canada’s family doctor shortage: The public, and politicians, worry about it a lot.

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Most everyone believes it’s a crisis that almost six million Canadians are without a family doctor, and waiting times are lengthening.

Douglas Todd: What's behind Canada's doctor shortage? One factor rarely gets discussed Back to video

The solutions trotted out most frequently involve governments paying to expand medical schools to train more physicians, or luring more doctors to Canada from other countries.

The Canadian Medical Association, the country’s physicians group, says the reason the “number of family doctors is not keeping up with demand” is because of retirements, fewer doctors choosing family medicine, limited........

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