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ITPC Statement: Responding to the Government of Ontario’s comments in the media re: CaRMS 2025-2026 Directive Excluding Internationally Trained Physicians


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 14th, 2025


ITPC Statement: Responding to the Government of Ontario’s comments in the media re: CaRMS 2025-2026 Directive Excluding Internationally Trained Physicians


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The Internationally Trained Physicians of Canada (ITPC) is urging the Ontario Ministry of Health to immediately rescind its new directive barring immigrant Internationally Trained Physicians (ITPs) from the first iteration of the 2026 CaRMS residency match unless they attended an Ontario high school. This restriction breaches the Ontario Human Rights Code (Sections 1 & 47) and the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act (FARPACTA Sections 6 & 10), which require public-service eligibility rules to be transparent, objective, and free from discrimination based on citizenship or place of origin. A high-school-geography test is arbitrary, opaque, and irrelevant to clinical competence — an unlawful proxy for immigrant status. Under Section 47, the Code binds the Crown and overrides any policy that produces unequal access to provincial services.


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Ontario’s own data contradict the policy’s intent. The Ministry’s reference to “Ontario-educated residents” ignores that many immigrant physicians already hold Ontario diplomas, master’s degrees, and PhDs — making “education geography” an unlawful stand-in for national origin. The claim of “building our workforce” rings hollow when the policy shrinks rather than strengthens it. Citing “local training opportunities” overlooks that high-school attendance has no link to service commitment, while ITPs already live, work, and volunteer across Ontario communities. Likewise, the promise of “connecting people to convenient care” is indefensible in a province where specialist wait times average 23.6 weeks — every excluded ITP means hundreds of Ontarians without a doctor. In the 2024–25 CaRMS match, 1,032 positions went to Canadian Medical Graduates (CMGs) versus 432 for ITPs (≈30%). Nationally, 1,772 ITPs competed for just 638 spots while 3,014 CMGs matched; after Round 1, only 121 Ontario positions remained for 872 unmatched ITPs and 244 CMGs, with second-round match rates of 17.5 % ITPs vs 58 % CMGs. The Practice Ready Ontario (PRO) program supports about 100 ITPs per year — far below the ≈800 ITP residency annually. Meanwhile, Ontario faces a shortfall of 3,500 family doctors. While other provinces expand ITP pathways, Ontario is closing them.


We Call on the Government of Ontario To:

Reverse this directive immediately — open the first iteration of CaRMS to all qualified ITPs.

Engage with ITP-led organizations like ITPC to ensure equitable representation in future decision-making.

Publicly renounce these actions that maliciously segregate a portion of the residents of Ontario & reaffirm Ontario’s commitment to DEI — not through slogans, but through action.



About ITPC

The Internationally Trained Physicians of Canada (ITPC) (formerly ITPO) advocates for fair and equitable opportunities for internationally trained physicians in Canada, and supports their integration into the healthcare workforce while promoting excellence in patient care.

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©2025 by Internationally Trained Physicians of Canada ITPC.

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