Starting in 2026, Ontario will reserve 95% of medical school seats for provincial residents and 5% for other Canadians, effectively limiting international student admissions to cases where seats go unfilled. Previously, about 88% of medical school spots were held by Ontario residents, with 12% allocated to other Canadians and international students. Under the new policy, 95% of seats will go to Ontario residents, with 5% to students from other provinces.
This policy does not represent an outright ban on international students; in the highly unlikely event that seats remain unfilled, medical schools will still be allowed to admit international students.
The change aligns with Ontario's “Learn and Stay” program, which covers tuition for 1,360 undergraduate students who commit to becoming family doctors in the province. With roughly 2.5 million Ontarians currently without a family doctor, the program aims to address this shortage and improve primary care access.
To further bridge this gap, the government has appointed former federal health minister Jane Philpott to help ensure that all Ontarians have access to primary care within the next five years.
