In 2023, there were roughly 90 thousand physicians in urban areas across Canada and around seven thousand in rural areas. Since 1980, the physician headcount has nearly tripled in urban areas, while nearly doubling in rural areas.

The physician workforce in Canada has steadily increased throughout the years. As of 2023, there were 97,384 doctors in Canada, including 48,264 family physicians and 49,120 specialists.

In 2023, there were roughly 48.2 thousand family physicians across Canada. Most of these family doctors worked in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. As of that year, there were 17,178 such practitioners in the province of Ontario.

This table provides statistics on the Number of Full-Time Equivalent Physicians by Specialty, based on fee-for-service payments under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). This table is an Excel version of a table in the “Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Statistical Supplement” report published annually by Alberta Health.

This table contains 267456 series, with data for years 2000 - 2000 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (199 items: Canada; Health and Community Services Eastern Region; Newfoundland and Labrador (Peer group D); Health and Community Services St. John's Region; Newfoundland and Labrador (Peer group H); Newfoundland and Labrador ...) Age group (14 items: Total; 12 years and over; 12-19 years; 15-19 years; 12-14 years ...) Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Females; Males ...) Contact with medical doctors (4 items: Total population for the variable contact with medical doctors; Contact with medical doctors in past 12 months; Contact with medical doctors; not stated; No contact with medical doctors in past 12 months ...) Characteristics (8 items: Number of persons; Low 95% confidence interval - number of persons; High 95% confidence interval - number of persons; Coefficient of variation for number of persons ...).

Physicians (per 1,000 people) in Canada was reported at 2.497 in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Canada - Physicians - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Demographic trends drive the rising demand for comprehensive primary care doctor services. An aging population's expanding medical needs are increasing the demographic's consumption of medical services. Primary care physicians are also first in line to help this demographic navigate complex conditions and visit specialists. Sudden population growth – an outcome of a surge in immigration and temporary residents – has also expanded the need for primary care physicians. When the pandemic abruptly disrupted healthy spending on primary care, providers had to navigate unprecedented financial and operating pressures. Telehealth adoption did allow primary care providers to continue to meet with patients, while federal funding allowed practices to cover wage expenses as patient volume dropped. Though pandemic concerns have been alleviated, inflation and labor shortages have introduced new challenges and industry-wide revenue has stagnated over the past five years to reach $42.6 billion in 2024, including expected growth of 2.7% in 2024 alone. Staffing shortages predated the pandemic. Persistent labor shortages jeopardize primary care providers' ability to address demand, creating staff burnout and high turnover rates. Shortages resulting from significant retirements and a lack of residency slots have different impacts. Shortages have accelerated wage growth in some provinces, squeezing profit for some as others address the primary care shortage by raising pay to recruit new physicians. Demographic trends will continue to support rising demand for primary care services. Yet, increasing demand and elevated costs will pressure primary care practices to look for ways to address growing needs. Consolidation activity will ramp up as smaller providers join larger or team-based practices to expand capacity. Digital tools and telehealth will become an integrated part of healthcare delivery because they can lower costs, increase capacity and improve access to underserved areas. The exact adoption of telehealth will depend on how each province offers it. Growth in total health expenditure per capita has varied by province and telehealth adoption will likely proceed at differing paces due to funding levels and programs. The country's industry revenue will expand at a CAGR of 2.2% to an estimated $47.5 billion over the next five years.

This statistic shows the number of physicians in Canada from 1978 to 2023, per 100,000 population. In 1978, there were 147 physicians per 100,000 population and the number increased to 243 per 100,000 population in 2023.

Forecast: Number of Female Practising Physicians in Canada 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

This table provides statistics on the Number of General/Family Physicians by Payment Range and Alberta Health Services Geographic Zones, based on fee-for-service payments under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). This table is an Excel version of a table in the "Alberta Health Care Insurance Statistical Supplement" report published annually by Alberta Health.

Los médicos en Canadá disminuyeron a 2.80 por cada 1000 personas en 2022 desde 2.81 por cada 1000 personas en 2021. Esta página incluye un gráfico con datos históricos para Médicos en Canadá.

This table provides a comparison of annual statistics on the Number of Physicians and Average Payments to Physicians by Age Group, based on fee-for-service payments under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). This table is an Excel version of a table in the “Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Statistical Supplement” report published annually by Alberta Health.

Number and percentage of persons who had a regular family physician.

This table provides statistics on the Number of Physicians by Specialty by Alberta Health Services Geographic Zones, based on fee-for-service payments under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). This table is an Excel version of a table in the "Alberta Health Care Insurance Statistical Supplement" report published annually by Alberta Health.

The number of physicians in Canada was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 4.2 thousand physicians (+4.28 percent). After the eleventh consecutive increasing year, the number of physicians is estimated to reach 102.38 thousand physicians and therefore a new peak in 2029. Depicted here is the estimated number of physicians in the geographical unit at hand. Thereby physicians include medical specialists as well as general practitioners.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of physicians in countries like United States and Mexico.

Forecast: Share of Practising Physicians Aged 45-54 in Canada 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Number and percentage of persons having consulted with a medical doctor, by age group and sex.

Digital Health Use refers to use of EMR and electronic tools/functions by Canadian physicians in their practice.

During that year, there were over 49.1 thousand specialist physicians across Canada, from which roughly 18 thousand registered in the province of Ontario and a further 11.5 thousand in Quebec. This graph shows the number of specialist physicians in Canada as of 2023 by province.

Comprehensive dataset of 1,778 Family practice physicians in Canada as of July, 2025. Includes verified contact information (email, phone), geocoded addresses, customer ratings, reviews, business categories, and operational details. Perfect for market research, lead generation, competitive analysis, and business intelligence. Download a complimentary sample to evaluate data quality and completeness.