Dear Premiers Jason Kenney and Doug Ford, respected Ministers of Health, and Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,

As Family Physicians and Specialists practicing throughout Canada, we are experiencing first-hand the detrimental effects the current physician shortage is causing Canadians. As you are aware, more than 5 million Canadians lack access to a primary care physician according to Statistics Canada. Although we appreciate the steps taken by the federal and provincial governments in expanding healthcare access and funding, increasing medical school and residency positions, more immediate solutions are critically needed to address the current health care crisis. 

We call for the rapid and robust acceleration of internationally trained physician uptake into the Canadian healthcare system. This will lead to better health outcomes for all Canadians and help to address the seemingly insurmountable healthcare backlog we are currently experiencing. 

We agree on the urgent need to reform the health-care system and that the current system status quo is not working.

Further delay is not an option.