“Ranging from the autumn of 2026, all Ontario medical colleges will likely be required to allocate not less than 95% of all undergraduate seats to residents of Ontario, with the opposite 5% reserved for college kids from the remainder of Canada,” stated Ford in a press briefing on October 25.
“I’ve simply been throughout our faculties and universities and there have been 18% college students from all over the world taking our children’ seats and never even staying right here however going again to their nation,” Ford claimed.
In line with provincial knowledge, there have been 10 worldwide college students in Ontario medical colleges in 2023/24, making up 0.26% of the whole 2,833 college students.
Ford’s unfounded declare that Ontario’s medical colleges are made up of 18% worldwide college students has sparked outrage within the sector, with Gautham Kolluri, founding father of CIP research overseas company, calling Ford’s declare “completely absurd”.
“There are hardly any worldwide college students entering into Ontario medical colleges. The acceptance may be very aggressive, and precedence is given to home college students.
“I hear that lower than 1% get accepted however I’ve not met or seen any worldwide college students getting accepted into an Ontario medical college,” stated Kolluri.
“So we are able to recruit them globally however not educate 0.26% right here?” requested one immigration advisor on LinkedIn, pointing to the hypocrisy of the brand new coverage.
In 2021, Ontario welcomed 116,310 internationally educated healthcare professionals (IEHPS) to work within the healthcare sector, practically half of all IEHPs in Canada, in accordance with Statistics Canada.
Ford additionally introduced a CAD$88 million funding over the subsequent three years in Ontario’s Be taught and Keep Grant that covers tuition and direct academic prices for college kids who decide to working towards household drugs in Ontario after graduating.
The grant program, additionally starting in 2026, will likely be prolonged to 1,360 eligible undergraduate college students which the province says will enable 1.36 million extra Ontarians to connect with major care.
Worldwide college students made up 0.26% of Ontario’s medical college students final yr
The coverage announcement comes after a new report which confirmed 12% of Ontarians do not need a household physician.
“The healthcare system in Ontario and Canada is struggling because of the lack of docs. The provincial and federal governments ought to make pressing modifications to make sure ease of licensing for worldwide medical professionals and improve the seats in medical colleges for home college students,” stated Kolluri.
Earlier this month, the IRCC introduced Canada’s new eligibility standards outlining which school applications will likely be eligible for post-graduate work permits, taking impact from November 1, 2024.
The newest announcement from Premier Ford has raised issues as soon as once more about potential worldwide college students’ notion of Canada as a research vacation spot, additional necessitating the sector’s mission to rebuild model Canada.
