Health Committee on Oct. 28th, 2025

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

How many visa trainees were in Canada for medical training in 2015?

Do you have that in front of you?

[Geoffrey Barnum]

I don't have that in front of me, no.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

If you could provide that information to the committee, that would be great.

[Geoffrey Barnum]

I would be happy to, yes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Thank you.

The vast majority of visa trainees are required to return to their home country after completing medical training in Canada.

Is this correct?

[Geoffrey Barnum]

Yes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

We've learned that the Government of Saudi Arabia is funding visa trainees to complete medical training in Canada.

How many Saudi-funded visa trainees were in Canada for medical training in 2024?

[Geoffrey Barnum]

I believe that number was about 700 or 800.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

According to "The National IMG Database Report”, there were 1,117 visa trainees from Saudi Arabia in Canada for medical training in 2024.

[Geoffrey Barnum]

That is correct.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Thank you.

Dr. Anand, the interim federal health program is administered by the federal immigration department for individuals not eligible for provincial health insurance. It includes coverage for refugee claimants, even if their claims are later found to be bogus. According to the government, the cost of this program was $800 million last year. This is up from $66 million in 2017.

Do you have any indication why the cost of this program has skyrocketed?

[Arun Anand]

There's probably a multifactorial basis to that.

One, there are probably more people entering through these programs. Two, because it is uninsured and there's less accountability, physicians are more aggressive with their billing practices. They charge premiums on these programs and services.

I believe it is inefficient and a poor use of resources.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Dr. Anand, are doctors charging higher rates for services charged through the interim federal health program compared to the standard provincial rates charged to Canadian patients?

[Arun Anand]

Yes.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Barnum, there were some audio issues before, so I'm going to ask you question one again.

How many visa trainees were in Canada for medical training in 2024?

[Geoffrey Barnum]

There was a total of 3,487, of which 3,458 were international medical graduates. There were 29 Canadian medical graduates who were visa trainees. Those would have been individuals who came to Canada to earn their MD and then carried on into their residency.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Ms. Slawecki, there are currently over 13,000 internationally trained doctors in Canada who are not working as doctors. The government keeps on saying that we need more immigrants to solve our health care problem, but it has failed the immigrant doctors who are already here in Canada.

Do you believe the government should focus on licensing immigrant doctors already here in Canada first—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have one minute.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

—before adding more people to a broken system?

[Eva Slawecki]

There does need to be more support for the doctors who are already here.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Do you have some ideas on that?

[Eva Slawecki]

We have already talked about the practice-ready assessments and the residency spaces, and so forth, so yes, those are good ideas.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Have you ever been asked that question by the federal government on how to fix the system?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 30 seconds.

[Eva Slawecki]

No.