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While family physician growth has slowed, pan-Canadian data indicates primary health care workforce is expanding

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While the shortage of family physicians is a hot topic across Canada, a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that the overall health workforce delivering care in Canada’s communities — that is, outside of hospitals and long-term care homes, for example — is, in fact, growing.

This finding from The state of the health workforce in Canada, 2023 indicates that a higher proportion of pharmacists, nurses and physiotherapists worked primarily in community settings last year.

Here’s how the numbers break down for 2023:

  • Over the last 10 years, the proportion of physiotherapists working primarily in community settings increased by more than 15 percentage points, the largest growth observed.
  • Nearly three-quarters of the pharmacist workforce worked primarily in community settings.
  • Almost 1 in 3 nurse practitioners worked primarily in community settings, a 3-percentage-point increase over the past 10 years.
  • Almost 37,000 registered nurses and almost 19,000 licensed practical nurses also worked primarily in community settings. 

Family physicians seeing fewer patients than a decade ago

At the same time, the rate of family physician growth has slowed — from nearly 3% (2015 to 2017) to 1% (2021 to 2023) — and while it has kept pace with population growth, data also shows the continuing trend of family physicians in Canada seeing fewer patients. On average, there has been an 18% decline over the past 10 years — from 1,746 patients in 2013 to 1,430 patients in 2022.

Several factors may have contributed to family physicians seeing fewer patients over time, including:

  • An aging and increasingly complex patient population, requiring more time from family physicians to provide care
  • New models of care, such as team-based care that includes more health professionals like nurses and physiotherapists
  • Provincial policy changes that expanded nurse practitioner and pharmacist prescribing authority to treat minor ailments without the need for a physician
  • The administrative burden on family physicians
  • The need for better work–life balance

Quotes

"As Canada continues to make improvements within the health systems, this report is essential to supporting health workforce planning and long-term planning within the sector. Accessible, relevant and accurate data is vital to addressing workforce challenges and ensuring broader health system sustainability, which begins with a strong health workforce across the country — without health workers, there would be no health care (or no patient care) in Canada."
— Chantal Couris, Manager, Health Workforce Information, Data Methods and Tools, Canadian Institute for Health Information

"This latest data is important to understanding and addressing the health workforce challenges that health systems face across this country. The metrics point to many contributing factors leading to practice changes for Canada’s health workers, further demonstrating why timely and expanded data is critical to tracking progress on strengthening the health workforce to meet patient needs."
— Deb Gordon, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Health Workforce Canada

Background

  • Working in a community setting includes providing primary care, and also includes working in home care agencies, public health agencies and private practices.
  • Non-physician health professionals included in community settings are nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

Related resources

About CIHI 

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing essential health information to all Canadians.

CIHI works closely with federal, provincial and territorial partners and stakeholders throughout Canada to gather, package and disseminate information to inform policy, management, care and research, leading to better and more equitable health outcomes for all Canadians. 

Health information has become one of society’s most valuable public goods. For more than 30 years, CIHI has set the pace on data privacy, security, accessibility and innovation to improve Canada’s health systems. 

CIHI: Better data. Better decisions. Healthier Canadians. 

Media contacts

For English inquiries:
Jill Kinsella

media@cihi.ca

For French inquiries:
Meagan Foreman

media@icis.ca

How to cite:

Canadian Institute for Health Information. While family physician growth has slowed, pan-Canadian data indicates primary health care workforce is expanding. Accessed April 24, 2025.