‘It’s a golden ticket’: U.S. doctors explain the urge to come to Canada

By Katie Dangerfield  Global News

Posted April 4, 2025 4:00 am

WATCH: As political tensions and health-care layoffs roil the United States, a surge of American doctors appears to be looking north for new opportunities. Health reporter Katherine Ward has more on the trend, and how Canada stands to benefit.

Dr. Karyn Ginsberg has spent more than 25 years practising pediatrics in the United States, but in recent months, she warns the political landscape is fueling a “brain drain” of doctors who are choosing to retire or considering a move to Canada — an option she’s exploring.

Ginsberg grew up in Toronto, completed high school and then moved to the U.S. for university, drawn by her mother’s American roots and the opportunity to study at Cornell University in New York.

“I found myself heading back to New York City right out of college because my father had been recruited [from Toronto] as a surgeon to Manhattan. He was a cancer surgeon, and he had an opportunity he couldn’t turn down, and I found myself in New York City as a graduate and went to medical school in New York City,” she told Global News.

Ginsberg said she’s loved her decades-long career as a pediatrician in the U.S. and recently spent time working in Los Angeles’ inner city, helping vulnerable youth.

However, in recent months, she has grown increasingly disheartened by the political landscape — an unease she shares with many colleagues who are finding it harder than ever to continue practising in the country.

She points to growing challenges such as deep cuts to health-care funding, increasing restrictions on reproductive and gender-affirming care and the rise of vaccine hesitancy.

And with Canada’s doctor shortage still growing, provinces and health-care agencies are looking to tap into this interest, hoping to bring in more skilled professionals to help fill gaps in patient care.

Read more at Global News