Ontario plans to bar international students from medical schools starting in 2026

Ontario will not allow international students in medical schools beginning in the fall of 2026, and will also cover tuition for more than 1,000 students who commit to becoming a family doctor in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Friday.

Through upcoming legislation, the province aims to reserve at least 95 per cent of medical school spots for Ontario residents and the remainder for students from other parts of Canada.

“There was 18 per cent students from around the world taking our kids’ seats and then not even staying here and going back to their country, and it’s just not right,” Ford said at a news conference.

“So now it’s going to be 100 per cent Canadian, 95 per cent Ontario.”

Provincial data show there were 10 international students in medical schools in Ontario out of 3,833 students total in the 2023-24 school year.

That means foreign students accounted for a tiny fraction of just 0.26 per cent of the total.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones echoed those comments, saying Ontario students “need to come first.”

“We are going to prioritize Ontario residents because those are our taxpayers that are paying those students to go to school,” Jones said.

The province is also expanding a “Learn and Stay” program that covers tuition and other educational costs to include students who commit to becoming family doctors in Ontario.

The grant program, also beginning in 2026, is expected to cost $88 million and be extended to 1,360 eligible undergraduate students. The province says the program should allow 1.36 million more Ontarians to connect to primary care.

The Ontario College of Family Physicians says 2.5 million people do not have a family doctor.

A study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information released on Thursday said 12 per cent of Ontarians do not have a family doctor.

It is an issue that has dogged the Ford government over the years, as the numbers of Ontarians without primary care rose during his tenure.

This week, the province appointed former federal Liberal health minister Jane Philpott to a new role with a goal of connecting every Ontarian to primary care within the next five years.

“She’s going to be on the ground fixing that gap,” Ford said.

The province is also expanding its health teams model, which sees patients connect to clinics where they have access to physicians, but also nurse practitioners and other services like physical rehabilitation and mental-health care.

The province said it is also reviewing the visa trainee program that trains international students sponsored by foreign governments in an effort to further protect Ontario students.

Ford pledged to help the current crop of medical students, too, with several of them standing behind him at an Oshawa, Ont., hospital.

“I’m trying to backdate this for a year or two because I’m sure some of you have debt from medical school,” Ford said.

He looked to Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, and added: “Can you hear that, Mr. Moneybags?”

Liberal health critic Adil Shamji, who is also an emergency room doctor, said there are so few international students that it is not a concern.

“Protecting more medical school spots for students in Ontario is a fair move, as other provinces do it all the time,” Shamji said.

“But this won’t actually add any family doctors to the work force for six years. Where was he with this policy two, three or four years ago?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press