Evidence of meeting #14 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was spots.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I call the meeting to order. Let it be known that as a courtesy I'm allowing the Conservative member to have five minutes with the witnesses.
Mr. Strauss.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Thank you, Chair.
My questions today are for Dr. McPherson.
Dr. McPherson, thank you so much for coming today, it means a lot. On behalf of the people of Kitchener, thank you for coming to serve our community. Beyond that, thank you for coming to committee today, because you're not just serving Kitchener now, you're serving the whole country of Canada. We're really pleased and proud to have you here.
I'd like to ask some questions at a high degree of granularity because I think individual cases help us to understand what is actually going on with immigration for health care professionals. If I ask you any questions that are prying or you don't feel comfortable answering, just please let me know. Don't feel compelled to answer anything.
We spoke a little bit before the meeting. You've practised in both countries. You've practised all around the United States, as you told me. Is there any reason ER doctors in general in the United States wouldn't be able to practise in Canada tomorrow?
November 27th, 2025 / 1:10 p.m.
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
Not that I'm aware of. I haven't found any really significant differences in the practice patterns that would prevent an American physician from practising in Canada.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Fantastic.
Overall, when you decided to come to Ontario, what barriers in terms of getting your licence recognized did you meet?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
I actually found the CPSO process for licensing to be fairly straightforward, just quite long. I would say that compared to the confusing process of British Columbia, Ontario's CPSO compares favourably.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
I'm pleased to hear that.
When you say long, how long do you mean?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
It took me a few months to get the documents together. A lot of that included getting official copies of transcripts from medical schools, which have to be mailed directly to the CPSO. Those are sort of the rate-limiting steps. If you are really dedicated you can get it done within two or three months.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
I see.
I won't ask your opinion on this, but I would say that if you hold a licence in Oregon it's probably the case that you passed all your medical school courses. It's a little bit strange to me that they would insist on verifying those documents in particular.
You spoke a little bit about the provincial nominee program and how that was giving you a hard time because of some terminology that I think pretty obviously needs to be changed. May I ask which immigration program you are currently here on and working under?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
I'm currently here on a temporary work permit, which will expire after three years.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Beyond the provincial nominee program that you're speaking about, are there any other federal immigration programs that you have evaluated or considered that could take you on the path to permanent residency?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
I'm not aware of any other pathway that would be viable for me. I am trying to improve my French to get some additional points for my application.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Tell me a little bit more about that. How would improving your French improve your ability to buy a home in Kitchener, Ontario?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
If I can demonstrate a certain level of French then I can potentially apply for express entry as a French-speaking skilled worker, which is an alternative pathway.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
If you were to be evaluated and meet criteria to be a French-speaking skilled worker, you would have an easier time achieving permanent residency to work in Kitchener, Ontario, as an emergency room physician?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
Yes, it's just essentially a completely different pathway, which I don't think has any specific bearing on being a physician. It's really just any skilled professional who is fluent in French can qualify for an alternative pathway to express entry.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
I'm honestly a bit flabbergasted by this. Could you tell me which languages other than English you encounter in the emergency room in Kitchener, Ontario, say by frequency?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
Quite a few of my patients are Indian and are speaking various language from India. I've had quite a few patients who speak Mandarin and Arabic. I don't think I've had any patients who speak French and not English.
Conservative
Matt Strauss Conservative Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
I won't ask you to speak to this as you're going through the immigration process, but it seems to me that this could be rationalized in part. If you continue to have difficulty achieving permanent residence status, either through the PNP or any other program, what hardships does this cause you? Does it put you at risk of going back?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
The short-term issue is that there's a 25% foreign investor tax on purchasing a home. I'm living in a rental house with my husband and children, which is not a position I've been in for quite some time. It's not ideal. We would like to be able to—
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I wish to thank the witnesses for being here. I wish to thank them for giving their time and their expertise to the answers.
I also want to thank the committee for being generous enough to give the Conservatives an extra five minutes for questioning because no one else got that. Thank you for that courtesy.
Liberal
