Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Ethnic minority immigrant medical doctors (IMDs) from developing countries are central participants in this research study. There is a very objective and efficient not-for-profit organization, namely the Canadian Resident Matching Services (CaRMS), that matches qualified applicants (Canadians and International medical graduates) to postgraduate training programs for licensure to practice medicine in Canada. Consistently, only about 10% of IMDs end up getting matched to residency programs to continue their medical career in Canada. IMDs arrive in Canada with huge portfolios of foreign credentials and radiant smiles of satisfaction that they have arrived in a country where opportunities to embrace the Canadian dream seem possible. Nonetheless, the majority of IMDs end up in underemployed jobs or in the unemployment category while Canada experiences a shortage of doctors. Quota restrictions, foreign credentials, foreign language, and cultural differences continue to be identifiable barriers that block IMDs’ access to a medical career in Canada while other countries such as England and Australia desperately need doctors and are vigorously recruiting international medical doctors to meet their needs. This paper addresses these underlying reasons preventing ethnic minority IMDs from continuing their medical profession in Canada. Applying a qualitative research methodology with an anti-colonial and critical intersectionality lens, it argues for policy change in recognizing IMDs foreign skills and utilization of these skills to support the health and well-being of Canada’s vastly diverse patient population.