Daphne Bramham: A shortage of doctors? Not really

Politicians in every province and territory in Canada keep acknowledging the critical shortage of doctors, and keep saying how they are doing everything they can to find more and train them.

But are they? Nearly 3,600 international medical graduates are now permanent residents, according to Immigration Canada, but it is estimated that fewer than 40 per cent have been licensed to practise here.

They and their advocates don’t think enough is being done, and Rosemary Pawliuk has data to prove it.

“From where I sit, on critical analysis, each and every one of the initiatives the government has introduced is flawed,” she told me. “The question is whether the built-in flaws which retain the barriers is a result of incompetent design or deliberate design.”

Pawliuk is a lawyer and executive director of the Society of Canadians Studying Medicine Abroad.