Niagara Region and Niagara Health Launch Joint Physician Recruitment Partnership to Address Critical Shortages

Niagara Region (搜索)搜索该词条 and Niagara Health (搜索)搜索该词条 have formalized a new partnership to strengthen physician recruitment across Niagara, addressing community needs for primary and specialist care and supporting efforts to improve access to healthcare for residents. The two organizations have developed an approach that builds on existing success in recruiting family physicians and expands those efforts to include specialists, including in emergency medicine and internal medicine, to strengthen physician capacity at Niagara Health.

Central to the initiative is the addition of a jointly funded Physician Recruitment Coordinator. The role will provide administrative and program support, enabling Niagara Region (搜索)搜索该词条 Physician Recruitment Program Manager Jill Croteau to focus on developing and executing a regional strategy for specialist recruitment while continuing to maintain a strong pipeline of family physicians.

The partnership builds on the Niagara Region (搜索)搜索该词条's Physician Recruitment Program, established in 2001 and delivered in collaboration with all 12 Niagara municipalities, medical education partners and local clinics.

A Record Number of Doctors Accepting New Patients

New data from Niagara's regional government indicates there may be more doctors looking to take on new patients in the region than many residents expect. "We have about 41 doctors in Niagara accepting new patients now, which is an all-time record," said Jill Croteau, physician recruitment program manager for the region. "I have been in this role for 15 years and I have never seen 41 doctors accepting patients."

Some of those doctors have been accepting new patients for more than a year, according to Croteau. A new partnership between Niagara's regional government, municipalities and the Niagara Practitioners' Healthcare Alliance is playing matchmaker between prospective patients and doctors with capacity. People can search for doctors and community health centres accepting new patients by municipality at the region's find-a-doctor website, and the program also provides "system navigators" who can help people find the right doctor and apply or register with doctors.

Addressing Specialist Shortages in Hospitals

Niagara Health (搜索)搜索该词条, which operates three hospitals along with urgent care centres at the former Port Colborne and Fort Erie hospitals, is facing a serious shortage of some specialities, such as emergency department doctors. Niagara Health's chief of staff Dr. Kevin Chan said the organization has 45 doctor vacancies across several priority areas, including emergency medicine, psychiatry, internal medicine, anesthesia and other specialized services.

"Our most significant recruitment needs are in emergency medicine and psychiatry, both of which are experiencing physician shortages across Ontario and Canada," Chan said. "Physician recruitment remains one of our top priorities as we work to strengthen access to care."

Chan said 26 physician offer letters have been signed since the start of the year across multiple specialties, including emergency medicine, anesthesia and internal medicine. Niagara Health (搜索)搜索该词条 has had to frequently scale back hours at its urgent care centres in the last year due to physician staffing shortages at its emergency departments in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland.

Recruitment Gains and Remaining Gaps

In 2025, 28 new family physicians were lured to Niagara, while 15 other doctors left practice. Of the doctors recruited in 2025, the vast majority — 71 per cent — were from the United Kingdom. However, based on Niagara's population and average doctor practice size, Niagara is still short about 107 of the 399 physicians it should have, statistics show.

Recruitment gains are offset by a growing population and an aging doctor population in Niagara that puts patients at risk of losing their family doctor. Regional statistics show that more than 53,000 Niagara residents, about a tenth of the population, are enrolled to doctors over 65.

A Broader Physician Shortage

Niagara is not alone in its shortage of emergency department doctors. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in July found that one in 10 ER doctors have left the profession, while the vast majority of others are reducing their hours or taking time off to manage chronic burnout and emotional exhaustion from record patient numbers and long waits.

The new partnership between Niagara Health (搜索)搜索该词条, the medical practitioners' alliance and municipalities — known as Connect to Care — has connected 9,000 additional residents to family physician care in the first months of 2026, according to the region's statistics.

Economic Implications of Physician Recruitment

Beyond health benefits, Niagara's economy may also benefit from more doctors. "Having … access to family physicians and specialized medicine doctors is important for any company or investor that's looking to invest in the region," George Spezza, director of economic development for the region, told CBC News. "It really adds to the quality of life and is one of the areas they look at when they're making an investment decision."

That is why the region moved the physician recruitment program from the public health umbrella to economic development nearly two years ago, Spezza said, and why the region invests in global recruitment involving trips overseas to attract doctors. "Like business investment, attracting physicians is competitive," said Spezza. "If you're not in the game and you're not proactive and you're not showing up in markets, someone else is."

Recruiting doctors requires playing the long game, with unrushed courting, Croteau said. "Often times we're working with physicians for two, three, four, five years prior to them making a decision."