Physicians
Key links
Infographic: A profile of physicians in Canada, 2023
Data tables: National Physician Database — Payments Data, 2022–2023 (XLSX)
Data tables: Supply, Distribution and Migration of Physicians in Canada, 2023 — Data Tables (XLSX)
Contact:
October 10, 2024 — Physician data contributes to evidence-based planning and management of the health workforce, which is vital to ensuring that Canadians can access health services when and where they need them.
We work closely with ministries of health and other physician stakeholder groups to develop national standards and indicators to understand the various types of services physicians provide. AVÐÇÇò has information about physicians across Canada going back to 1968.
Key findings
- Supply of doctors
- In 2023, there were 97,384 physicians in Canada, representing 243 physicians per 100,000 population.
While the supply of physicians grew 1.4% compared with 2022, the increase was driven exclusively by specialist physicians (2.9%). Family medicine physicians experienced slightly negative growth (-0.1%).
- In 2023, there were 97,384 physicians in Canada, representing 243 physicians per 100,000 population.
- Dollars and utilization
- Total clinical payments reached $32.4 billion in 2022–2023 — a 5.3% increase over the previous year.
The average gross clinical payment per physician increased by 3.5% in 2022–2023 to $369,000. It ranged from $302,000 in Nova Scotia to $410,000 in Alberta.
Physicians provided more than 278 million services in 2022–2023, representing an increase of almost 3% over the previous year.
- Total clinical payments reached $32.4 billion in 2022–2023 — a 5.3% increase over the previous year.
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- The proportion of female physicians in the workforce continues to rise. In 2023, 50.4% of family medicine physicians and 40.7% of specialist physicians in Canada were female.
The average age of physicians in 2023 was 49.3 — 51.7 for males versus 46.4 for females.
- The proportion of female physicians in the workforce continues to rise. In 2023, 50.4% of family medicine physicians and 40.7% of specialist physicians in Canada were female.
Featured material
A profile of physicians in Canada
Learn more about Canada’s physicians with this visualization.
National Physician Database (NPDB)
Learn about payments to physicians and services provided. Data goes back to 1996–1997.
Scott’s Medical Database (SMDB)
Get the number and distribution of physicians, including demographics, education and migration.
Reports
Changes in practice patterns of family physicians in Canada
This report presents a high-level look at the practice patterns of family physicians today and how they have changed over the last decade.
The state of the health workforce in Canada, 2022
This report provides an overview of 4 key areas: health workforce supply and distribution, internationally educated health professionals, workplace measures and specific population needs.
Tools
Physician Services Benefit Rate (PSBR)
The PSBR provides provincial comparisons of fees paid for physicians’ services under Canadian medicare systems. The PSBR is available upon request.
National Grouping System (NGS)
The NGS organizes fee codes into homogenous categories for comparison of physician services across Canada. For a list of codes, see the NPDB methodology notes.
Download this visualization (PDF)
Additional material
Reports and releases
Explore other physician-related data and reports.
- Health Workforce in Canada, 2022 — Quick Stats (XLSX) (Updated June 27, 2024)
- Patient Cost Estimator (Oct. 2023)
- AVÐÇÇò’s Physician Scope of Practice Methodology (PDF) (May 2023)
- Virtual care: Impact of COVID-19 on physician practice patterns (Mar. 2022)
- Virtual care: Impact of COVID-19 on patients receiving physician services (Mar. 2022)
- Continuity of Care With Family Medicine Physicians: Why It Matters (Apr. 2015)
- Physician Follow-Up After Hospital Discharge: Progress in Meeting Best Practices (Mar. 2015)
- Approaches for Calculating Average Clinical Payments per Physician Using Detailed Alternative Payment Data (Mar. 2015)
Metadata
These notes are meant for all data users. They summarize the sources, definitions, strengths and limitations of the data available.
Contact us
Have questions?
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Key links
Infographic: A profile of physicians in Canada, 2023
Data tables: National Physician Database — Payments Data, 2022–2023 (XLSX)
Data tables: Supply, Distribution and Migration of Physicians in Canada, 2023 — Data Tables (XLSX)
Contact:
How to cite:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Physicians. Accessed October 21, 2024.
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