Ontario is embedding in legislation a policy that would give priority for medical residency positions to applicants with a connection to the province.
The Health Ministry made headlines last week for rescinding a nearly identical policy amid a court case over it, but they actually withdrew the policy in order to legislate it.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said she wants to give priority to Ontarians, including people from the province who may have left to study medicine abroad but want to return home to practice.
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
The legislation would be in line with approaches in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, Jones said.
"We've fine tuned the program a bit ... brought it in line with three other Canadian jurisdictions, provinces," she said in an interview.
"We strengthened the definition, made it more consistent with what other provinces have been doing for a number of years. And by putting it into legislation as opposed to policy, it's now very clear that this is the government's direction, as opposed to a suggestion."
A two-round process matches medical graduates with residency positions and the now-rescinded policy would have saved first-round international graduate spots for people who attended high school in Ontario for at least two years.
The proposed new policy would ensure a dedicated first-round stream for international medical graduates who went to an Ontario high school for at least two years, or attended an Ontario university in person for at least two years, or lived in Ontario for at least 24 weeks in the year leading up to their application.
Various medical groups, including the Canadian Medical Association and College of Family Physicians of Canada, criticized the initial policy when it was put in place last fall, especially the fact that it came partway through the application process.
Jones acknowledged in the interview that there was "fair criticism" of the fact the change was coming mid-process, but said the main goal of the rule change is to give Ontarians who have left the country an opportunity to come back.
"There are many students and young people for all the right reasons, because they wanted to start their medical career, went abroad to begin their medical studies, and really the first natural place and time for them to return is when they can apply for those residency spots," she said.
Ontario Medical Association president Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman said she worries that even with broadened eligibility, the new rules will still discourage international physicians from practising in this province.
"We just feel that restricting access to the first round of the match still risks excluding qualified, internationally trained physicians who are ready to care for patients," she said.
"We agree that bringing home Ontario students to practise family medicine in our province is important, but we have to be careful of any of the unintended consequences of this policy."
The policy was being challenged on constitutional grounds in court, and Jones said she believes the new rules as written in the upcoming legislation are solid.
"We believe that by embedding it into legislation, by bringing it in line with other Canadian jurisdictions that have been using the same definitions for many years, we are – how do we say – less likely to go to court," the minister said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2026.
