The federal government is putting up about $6 million to hire as many as 90 internationally trained doctors by 2029 to work in Manitoba, primarily in rural and remote communities, provincial and federal health ministers said Wednesday.
Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the funding will be used over three years to expand the provincial practice-ready assessment program for international medical graduates — an assessment program that offers a quicker path to licensing for foreign-trained doctors who have already completed training and are ready to work in Manitoba.
The federal government wanted to work with provinces and territories to fast-track credentials and recognize internationally trained doctors, but was willing to work with Manitoba “in a unique way,” said Asagwara.
“We actually asked them if we could focus this on ER-trained physicians, with an emphasis on rural and northern communities,” Asagwara said during a news conference at the Manitoba Legislature, where they spoke along with federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel.
“For rural and northern communities, that means having a doctor not only available, but it means having that doctor available at the right time,” said Asagwara, calling it “an incredible step” for the province’s health-care system.
The new doctors won’t be placed exclusively in rural and remote communities, but those areas will be the focus, they said. The province is looking at which municipalities are struggling the most to find health-care workers.
The province is also looking at ways to keep doctors who come through the assessment program in the rural and remote areas where they’re hired, the Manitoba minister said.
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“We know that rural and northern communities face some of the greatest staffing challenges that we have, and so this program is going to really focus on making sure that we retain those folks [and get] the right doctors in the right places and keep them there long term.”
The province has recruited more than 370 net new doctors since the NDP government came into power in 2023, according to Asagwara.
Kathy Valentino, president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, said the organization has been pushing for more doctors in rural and remote areas.
“A health-care emergency can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time,” she said at Wednesday’s news conference.
“Meeting these needs requires a health-care workforce that can respond to the unique needs of communities across Manitoba, both now … and into the future.”
Michel said the federal funding is meant to accelerate work by provinces and territories to bring more internationally trained doctors and nurses into their health-care systems, especially in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.
“By opening new pathways for internationally trained medical professionals, we can put doctors to work where they are needed, [and] we can achieve this while upholding our high professional standards,” the federal health minister said.
The announcement was made as federal, provincial and territorial health ministers are in Winnipeg to discuss funding this week.
Earlier this month, the health ministers and their counterparts from finance departments called on the feds to renew $1.2 billion in annual funding for mental health, addictions and home care in this year’s budget. That funding is set to expire next year.
When asked whether the funding deal will be extended, Michel said news on that will come later.
Asagwara said they’re looking forward to Michel’s update.
“We want to avoid the fiscal cliff,” the Manitoba minister said.
