We, the undersigned, call on Canada’s regulatory bodies to uphold the integrity, safety, and standards of medical care by addressing alarming changes to the Practice Ready Assessment (PRA) program in British Columbia and other provinces.

Many medical schools worldwide do not provide students with adequate clinical exposure, which is why many countries require a mandatory one-year internship following medical school. However, provinces such as Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador are now accepting this internship as equivalent to the two years of accredited family medicine residency training required in Canada or the U.S.

In addition, recent policy changes in British Columbia have eliminated the MCCQE Part 1 exam as a requirement for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) applying to the PRA program. Manitoba and Nova Scotia have also dropped this exam. Even more concerning, graduates from non–family medicine specialties are now being certified as equivalent to Canadian-trained family physicians through the PRA pathway.

 
🚨 Why This Matters:

✅ Lowering standards jeopardizes patient safety.
The MCCQE Part 1 is Canada’s national benchmark for assessing core medical knowledge. Waiving this requirement undermines the standardized testing all Canadian medical graduates must pass.

✅ Family medicine in Canada is a certified specialty.
Canadian family physicians complete two years of accredited post-graduate training and must pass rigorous certification exams. In many other countries, “general practitioners” receive no residency training—yet they are being certified as equivalent under the current PRA model.

✅ A 12-week assessment cannot replace a 2-year residency.
Regardless of how structured the PRA is, it cannot replicate the depth, breadth, and supervision of a formal two-year family medicine residency.

✅ Conflicts of interest must be addressed.
Many PRA assessors go on to hire the same candidates they evaluate, raising serious concerns about impartiality, bias, and transparency.

✅ Increased risk of overtesting, overreferral, and system strain.
Insufficiently trained physicians may over-rely on investigations and referrals, placing additional pressure on Canada’s already burdened healthcare system.

 
🛑 Our Demands:
The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) must require completion of two years of formal family medicine training before candidates are eligible to sit the certification exam and receive their certificate.
Reinstate the MCCQE Part 1 as a mandatory entry requirement for all PRA programs across Canada.
Limit PRA eligibility to IMGs with completed, accredited postgraduate family medicine training—not a one-year internship or training in unrelated specialties.
Prohibit assessors from hiring or directly supervising PRA candidates following the assessment period, to eliminate conflicts of interest.
 
Let’s protect the integrity of Canadian family medicine. Let’s safeguard patient care. Let’s ensure every licensed physician in Canada meets a consistent, rigorous standard.

Sign this petition and share it widely. Together, we can demand transparency, accountability, and the highest standards in physician licensure.