There are several demographic reasons behind the current shortage of primary care physicians in Canada.
1) Between 1970-2025, Canada's population doubled from 21.3 million in 1970 to 41.6 million in 2025. It is projected to be 42.2 million at the end of 2025.
2) The biggest percentage increase was between 2020-2025, when it increased from 38 million to 41.6 million. The increase was primarily due to immigration from India, the Philippines, China, and Afghanistan -- countries which may not have the latest treatment methods for pre-exiting conditions.
3) Canadians live longer than do our American cousins. The Canadian life expectancy in 2024 was 84.2 year, the Americans' was 80.9 years. (The UK's life expectancy for 2024 was 82.2 years and Australia's 84.18 years.) In 2022, 20% of the Canadian population was over age 65 and 8.3% was over age 85.
4) The aging population has more complex and untreated diseases which require more time to diagnose, more patient/family education, and more follow up, as well as more paperwork for referral to specialist consultants or other organizations.
5) Younger adults are being diagnosed with serious conditions at an early age (e.g., cancers).
6) As of 2025, 47% of all Family Practitioners are women. Women are more likely to take maternity leave, and are generally more likely to have more family responsibilities, thus needing more flexible hours than do their male counterparts.
7) Longer wait lists for surgeries or other urgent procedures require more maintenance work for Family Physicians as the patient awaits the surgery or procedure.
8) Family physicians have other options: Universities across Canada offer formal training programs in specialty areas, which prepare Family Physicians to work in "Focused Practice."
In Ontario, the number of Family Physicians working in "Focused Practice" has increased from 7.7% in 1993/1994 to 19.2% in 2022/2024.
In 2021, the number of all Ontario Family Physicians who were doing "focused" work was distributed thus: 37% ER, 26.5% hospitalist medicine, 8.3% addiction medicine, 6% anesthesia, 5.2% palliative care.
9) Although the majority of Canadians live in urban areas, approximately 18-20% of the population lives in rural, or remote areas, spread over a wide geographic area. That is, suppose one Family Physician in a city manages a roster of 1,500 patients. Meanwhile, three remote towns, each with a population of 500, would collectively require three Family Physicians to serve the same total number of people.
In summary, Primary Care Family Physicians unquestionably bear the a major part of the increasing burden of dealing with multiple responsibilities for many health subsections of Canada's current population; the elderly, the new immigrants, and the young.
Although the recent increased role of community pharmacists has eased the pressure on Family Physicians somewhat, patients and the public in general, rely on and trust the Family Physician to be responsible for the ongoing direction of their care.
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