One of the great myths of Canada says that doctors are leaving in record numbers because of their terrible health system. It simply isn’t true, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information : (I’m essentially quoting Don McCanne’s Quote of the Day here, a great listserv that if you’re not on, you’re missing):

Over the past five years, the proportion of Canadian physicians moving in and out of the country has decreased by 30.6%. While both the number leaving and the number returning to the country are on the decline, Canada has seen a larger decrease in the number of physicians leaving the country. As a result, the proportion of physicians returning to the country is now greater than the
proportion leaving.

When comparing the number of physicians moving abroad to the number of physicians returning from abroad, Canada registered net physician losses from 2001 to 2003. Starting in 2004, Canada began registering net gains of 85 physicians in 2004 and 61 physicians in 2005 due to
international migration.

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