The province says it is taking steps to boost the number of family doctors in Ontario by introducing legislative changes to prioritize Ontario students and including family medicine in its ‘Learn and Stay’ grant. Starting in 2026, the province says it will invest about $88 million over three years to expand the grants to 1,360 eligible undergraduate students that “commit to practice family medicine with a full roster of patients” once they graduate. “Since it was first introduced in 2023, the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant has helped nearly 7,500 students begin training in priority nursing, paramedicine and medical lab technology programs,” Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges and Universities, said in a news release issued Friday.
“Now, we’re taking the grant to the next level – supporting Ontario’s future family doctors so they can provide world-class health care to the people of Ontario.” The province also aims to introduce new legislative and regulatory changes that will, if passed, require all Ontario medical schools to allocate at least 95 per cent of all undergraduate medical school seats to Ontario residents. Another five per cent of spots will be reserved for students from elsewhere in Canada, according to the province.
Ontario students who started their medical education abroad will also be able to complete postgraduate training in Ontario under the proposed changes. “These actions are designed to ensure Ontario medical schools are training and gr.
