B.C. Premier David Eby speaks during an announcement about the expansion of a program that assists internationally educated doctors in obtaining a licence to practice in the province, in Richmond, B.C., on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
April 01, 2026 - 3:09 PM
VICTORIA — The provincial government says B.C. now has the most doctors per capita in the country, while its recruitment efforts targeting U.S.-trained health professionals have wooed more than 500 people to the province as of last month.
The health ministry says in a statement that another 600,000 people have been connected with primary care providers, either a family doctor or a nurse practitioner, since 2023.
The ministry says more than 75 per cent of residents in the province now have a primary care provider, and the province credits its push to train and recruit health workers, including hundred from the United States.
It says more than 500 American health professionals have accepted jobs in the province as of last month, including 109 doctors, 315 nurses, 51 nurse practitioners and more than two dozen "allied health professionals."
The ministry says nearly 3,000 American health workers have applied for jobs in B.C. since last March.
The statement says B.C. now has more than 15,000 physicians, with 271 doctors per 100,000 residents, more than half of whom are family doctors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026
News from © The Canadian Press, 2026