Ontario’s auditor general says the Ford government did not plan properly when expanding the province’s medical schools, which has slowed down the creation of new family medicine training spots.
The government had announced a major increase in medical school spaces to improve access to family doctors. This included opening two new medical schools at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and York University, as well as expanding six existing ones.
But the auditor general, Shelley Spence, found the government rushed ahead and ignored warnings from people in the medical education sector. Leaders of medical schools had warned the province in November 2023 that there were not enough training sites or instructors to support more students. Many training locations were already full.
Spence reported that the government did not “document an analysis of key considerations” before deciding to expand. Because of the shortage of training sites, the auditor general said the province’s plan for new family medicine seats has been delayed. Most of the added family medicine spots are now expected to roll out starting in the 2026–27 school year.
A spokesperson for the premier pushed back, saying TMU’s medical school opened “at full capacity” with 94 new undergraduate seats this fall. They said residency positions were always meant to increase slowly over five years.
On Tuesday, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health Anthony Leardi could not explain why the ministry didn’t plan properly for the extra training spots needed. He said the government still aims to increase the number of doctors trained in Ontario.
The auditor general also found that the province did not fully consider the funding needed to create new family medicine training sites. Family medicine residents usually need two years of training at approved sites, which require proper infrastructure.
An internal memo showed medical schools had warned that without new investments in training locations, they would not be able to keep expanding family medicine spots after 2025. As a result, by the end of this year, medical schools will have added 115 new family medicine seats—89 fewer than planned.
Despite the delays, Leardi said the province would be happy to add even more seats, arguing that increases so far show the plan is working.
The report also found that Ontario has not created any performance measures to track whether adding more medical school seats is actually helping more people find a doctor.
