Ontario's Ford Government Relaxes Medical Residency Rules

0:00Ontario's Ford government is rolling back a tough rule on medical residencies and pushing new legislation to open doors wider for international graduates. Last fall, they tried limiting first round spots to those with two years of high school in the province, but that got scrapped after legal pushback and backlash from doctors. Now, the bill keeps the high school option but adds past for folks who did two or more years full time and person at an Ontario university plus lived. Here continuously for 24 weeks right before applying. Physician groups slammed the original move as unfair, saying it hurt family medicine programs amid our huge doctor shortage. Advocates like the Black Physicians of Canada are cheering the shift to a proper legislative process with public hearings for more openness. The Ontario Medical Association likes the broader access, but warns any limits could still block qualified docs ready to jump in and help for the 2027 match that 24 week residency clock starts January 1, 2025,

1:05aiming to bring home more Ontario students studying medicine overseas while easing the strain on our health care front line. Local news powered by AI. This is Canada News Today. I'm Corey with the story.