Quick Facts:
- The changes to the bylaws follow similar changes recently adopted in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
- Between May and June 2025, B.C. has received nearly 780 job applications spanning all health regions: 181 for Interior Health, 154 for Fraser Health, 121 for Vancouver Coastal Health, 112 for Island Health, 70 for Providence Health Care, 66 for Provincial Health Services Authority and 63 for Northern Health (some applicants may have applied to more than one health authority).
- The Province is taking a Team B.C. approach to recruiting health-care workers from the U.S., and is working in collaboration with health authorities, regulatory colleges and other partners.
- The Province launched a targeted U.S. marketing campaign on June 2, 2025, in Washington, Oregon and select cities in California.
To further improve recruitment, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. (CPSBC) implemented bylaw changes on July 7, 2025, that benefit doctors trained outside of Canada. Since then, CPSBC has received 29 registration applications from U.S. doctors.
What’s the state of healthcare work in canada? Or does it vary by territory?
In the US doctors have to go in absurd debt but they’re paid a lot to compensate. Insurance companies increasingly dictate what care people get (the doctors have to fight them). Small practices have mostly been closed because they can’t afford admin teams big enough to keep up with the insurance companies and their constantly changing policies. Most practices push for 15 minute appointments.
Kinda curious if BC’s pay rates would be enough to pay down the student debt too.
My understanding is that since insurance is all BC Medical, you don’t need a lot of people to deal with it. Small practices run with less overhead.
That said, I have supplemental coverage through Blue Cross. So other insurance can be involved.
My brother’s clinic in Canada had one billing person for a team of five doctors, with a couple of additional people (nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, etc).
In contrast, when he worked in the States, they had two or three billing people for each doctor in the clinic.