Banning Iinternational Medical Students 2026

Scapegoating international medical students won’t solve Ontario’s health-care crisis By: Dat Nguyen. The news that Ontario will no longer allow international students to study medicine in the province starting in 2026 struck me profoundly as someone who recently immigrated to Canada with the hope of becoming a doctor. Pursuing a medical education is challenging enough, but the obstacles are especially daunting for international students. I understand this firsthand, having had to make the difficult choice to delay my medical school application until I could secure permanent residency. Canada already offers limited opportunities for foreign nationals who aspire to become doctors –in fact, the number of international students admitted to medical schools nationwide each year is so small it could be counted on two hands. So, scapegoating foreign nationals is not a solution to Ontario's health-care challenges but rather a tactic to distract from the provincial government’s neglect of long-term investment in medical care and education. Premier Doug Ford’s decision is deeply offensive and devoid of any substantial policy justification. It exploits the frustrations of Ontarians with the province’s health-care system, using a divisive, populist narrative. If such nativist political gestures go unchecked, they threaten to erode Canada’s long-standing values of acceptance and inclusion. Ford should reconsider this divisive policy and instead invest in solutions that address the real problems in our health-care system, such as the shortage of family doctors, the lack of medical education funding and long hospital wait times. Our future as a province should be unity and growth, not exclusion and division. Having chosen Canada after more than a decade of commitment to the United States, I can offer insight into the motivations of other international students seeking medical education in this country. My journey began at 15, leaving my home country of Vietnam to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. During my 12 years in the U.S. — from high school through a bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s from Johns Hopkins University – I encountered racial prejudice and discrimination, which intensified as the U.S. embraced Trumpian ideologies. With the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, marking a painful turning point, I chose to leave America, seeking a country that values tolerance and inclusion even though I knew this decision came with professional sacrifices. As of October 2024, Canada offers limited opportunities for those pursuing a medical career, with only 17 institutions, and only six in Ontario, granting medical degrees – an alarmingly low number for a developed nation of its size. By contrast, the United States has more than 150 medical schools. Individual U.S. states such as New York and California have 15 and 12 medical schools respectively, while Maryland, which is a fraction the size of Ontario, hosts three. Seven students According to the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) in its 2024 admissions report, Canadian medical schools accepted just seven international medical students in the 2021-22 academic year. To put this in perspective, that’s a mere 0.35 per cent of the 1,980 offers issued that year. While this report excludes data from five Canadian schools that admit foreign applicants, a more complete dataset from the 2016-17 cycle (excluding only the University of Toronto) shows Canada admitted just 16 international medical students that academic year. This data starkly highlights the theatrical nature of the Ford government’s decision. because even without a ban, international students were never a significant presence in Canadian medical schools. Yet, the Ontario government chose to stage a press conference blaming foreigners instead of addressing the actual shortages of health-care providers and funding for medical education. Rather than taking concrete steps to address these issues, this policy stirs distrust and plays on nativist sentiments. By scapegoating foreigners, Ford’s government exploits Ontarians' fears and frustrations for electoral gain while offering no tangible solutions. Let me emphasize that aspiring doctors rarely choose Canada solely due to the education system. In terms of tuition costs, post-graduate salaries and research funding opportunities, the United States and other European nations offer equally or more appealing options. Many international applicants, myself included, chose Canada because of its commitment to inclusivity and the values that Canadian society represents. This decision to ban international students is a direct affront to those values. As an Ontarian, a taxpayer, an aspiring physician and simply as a decent human being, I urge Premier Ford to stop playing political games and abandon fear-mongering tactics.