Canada unveils new Express Entry category and fast-track measures for physicians
On December 8, 2025, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab and Minister Maggie Chi announced a focused set of federal measures designed to ease the pathway to permanent residence and work authorization for internationally trained doctors who are ready to practise in Canada. The package combines a new Express Entry selection category, a dedicated admissions allocation for provinces, and dramatically faster work-permit processing for provincially nominated, practice-ready physicians.
Taken together, the measures are intended to tackle persistent physician shortages across Canada by making it faster and simpler for licensed clinicians to move into jobs and remain in the health-care system while their immigration applications proceed.
What the government announced (the three core measures)
1) New Express Entry category: “Physicians with Canadian work experience”
IRCC will launch a category in Express Entry specifically for physicians who have recent Canadian clinical experience. Key eligibility points announced:
- Minimum Canadian work experience: At least 12 months of continuous full-time work (or the part-time equivalent) in Canada within the last three years.
- Single-occupation requirement: The 12 months must be in a single eligible physician occupation. Targeted occupations include:
- General practitioners and family physicians — NOC 31102
- Specialists in surgery — NOC 31101
- Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine — NOC 31100
- Timing: Invitations under this new Express Entry category are expected to begin in early 2026.
This category sits alongside existing health-care and social-services draws, but it introduces a clear in-Canada experience threshold for physicians that reflects the realities of regulated clinical practice and provincial credentialing.
2) 5,000 reserved permanent-resident admissions for provinces to nominate licensed doctors
The federal government will set aside 5,000 admission spaces specifically to allow provinces and territories to nominate licensed physicians who hold job offers. These admissions are additional to standard provincial allocations and are intended to let provinces rapidly increase the number of foreign-trained doctors proposed for permanent residency.
The announcement did not specify which program or envelope these 5,000 spaces will be drawn from, or precisely how provinces will allocate their reserved quotas among nominees.
3) Expedited work permits for provincially nominated, practice-ready physicians
Provincially nominated physicians who qualify as “practice-ready” will benefit from an accelerated work-permit processing target of 14 days. This fast-track processing will enable doctors to begin clinical work under appropriate supervision or provisional licensing while their permanent-residence paperwork is finalized — shortening the time between nomination and employment authorization.
Why the measures matter
Canada faces chronic shortages in many medical specialties and in rural and remote communities. The new measures are designed to:
- Remove bottlenecks that delay doctors from starting work (long work-permit adjudication, slow nomination-to-employment timelines).
- Encourage provinces to recruit internationally by giving them more room in the admissions plan to nominate the doctors they need.
- Prioritize physicians with demonstrated Canadian clinical experience, which helps ensure that incoming doctors are prepared for local practice standards and can integrate more quickly into care teams.
For provinces, having a dedicated admissions pool plus rapid work-permit processing reduces the risk of losing candidates to competing jurisdictions and shortens the time employers wait to fill critical vacancies.
Practical implications for doctors and employers
For internationally trained physicians (ITPs) already in Canada:
- If you have at least 12 months of continuous Canadian clinical experience within the past three years in one of the targeted NOCs, the new Express Entry category could significantly improve your chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. Be ready to document clinical hours, employer references, licensure steps and supervision details.
- If you are provincially nominated and deemed practice-ready, you may now access a work permit that will be processed in approximately two weeks — enabling you to work while your PR application is in progress.
For provinces and health-employer partners:
- Expect a stronger incentive to recruit foreign-trained, practice-ready physicians and to support licensure, bridging programs and supervised practice arrangements.
- Employers should prepare to provide robust job offers and timely documentation to provincial nomination authorities, and to coordinate onboarding and any provisional licensing requirements that let doctors practise as they complete credential recognition.
For newcomers outside Canada with physician qualifications:
- If you have an offer to work in Canada and can meet licensure/practice-ready conditions, discuss provincial nomination options with the hiring province. The reserved admissions may create opportunities even where general nomination slots are limited.
Outstanding questions and operational details to watch
The announcement establishes the high-level policy, but several operational questions remain that will determine how fast and how effectively the measures work in practice:
- Allocation mechanics: Which program envelope will the 5,000 reserved admissions be drawn from, and how will provinces share or prioritize those spaces?
- Definition of “practice-ready”: Provinces and regulatory colleges will need clear criteria for assessing readiness to practise, including supervised-practice placements, exams and language thresholds.
- Integration with existing health-care—and Express Entry—categories: How will the new physician category interact with the current healthcare draws and provincial nomination streams? Will IRCC run physician-specific draws at a regular cadence?
- Licensing timelines: Even with faster work permits, physicians still require regulatory assessment and sometimes bridging placements; provinces will need resources and clear pathways to ensure candidates move efficiently through credentialing.
Applicants and employers should watch for IRCC and provincial guidance in the coming weeks that will set out application procedures, supporting-document requirements and timelines.
Steps physicians should take now
- Document Canadian clinical experience: Collect employer letters, pay records, supervised-practice agreements, and clear breakdowns of hours worked to prove continuous clinical employment within the required 12-month window.
- Confirm NOC alignment: Make sure your clinical role aligns precisely with one of the targeted NOCs (31102, 31101, 31100) and that job descriptions reflect regulated practice duties.
- Engage provincial licensing authorities early: Begin or continue licensure steps, including exams, bridging programs, and language testing, to speed “practice-ready” determinations.
- Coordinate with employers: Ask prospective employers about their willingness to support provincial nomination and to provide the definitive job offer documentation required for nomination.
- Prepare Express Entry documentation: If eligible, get your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), language test results, police clearances and identity documents in order so you can move quickly when invitations are issued.
Bottom line
The December 8 announcement represents a targeted federal push to attract and retain physicians by combining a new in-Canada experience requirement for Express Entry selection, a sizable admissions reserve for provinces, and a rapid-processing work-permit route for nominated clinicians. The measures should speed the arrival and deployment of practice-ready physicians across Canada — but their success will depend on rapid, coordinated action by provincial authorities, regulatory medical colleges, employers and IRCC to turn policy into practicable hiring, licensure and migration processes.
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