VICTORIA, BC: The provincial government’s announcement celebrating the recruitment of more than 400 U.S.-based healthcare professionals is a band-aid solution for a healthcare system in crisis.
At a time when more than 1.2 million British Columbians are waiting to see a specialist and thousands remain without a family doctor, the government is failing to address the root causes of the problem.
“Recruiting from the United States may make for a headline, but it does nothing to fix the structural failures in our system,” said Dr. Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island and BC Conservative Health Critic. “They are not bringing in enough providers, and they are not increasing patient attachment. British Columbians still can’t find a family doctor.”
Kindy says the issue is not just recruitment, it’s retention.
“While this government looks south for solutions, they are driving healthcare workers out of British Columbia,” she said. “The Health Professions and Occupations Act will strip independence from regulatory colleges and impose top-down control. Doctors are already warning they may retire early or leave rather than work under this system.”
The legislation is set to come into force April 1, raising growing concern across the medical community.
At the same time, the government is fast-tracking U.S.-trained doctors into B.C. without additional assessment, while failing to meaningfully expand training capacity at home.
“One-third of B.C.’s doctors are already internationally trained,” said Kindy. “Relying on foreign recruitment is not a long-term plan. Producing just 50 additional doctors a year is nowhere near enough to meet demand, and we have thousands of excellent domestic applicants rejected every year.”
Kindy says British Columbians deserve a government focused on real solutions, not short-term optics.
“This is not a recruitment problem alone. It’s a system failure,” she said. “We need serious action on training, retention, and transparency so people can actually access care when they need it.”
-30-
Media Contact:
Francesca Guetchev, Press Secretary
Francesca.Guetchev@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-0948
