Government had quietly rescinded a policy that would have severely restricted international medical graduates in the first round of residency matching.

April 17, 2026 Toronto Star By Nicholas Keung Senior Immigration

Reporter, and Megan Ogilvie Health Reporter

After backpedalling from a controversial rule that was meant to prioritize Ontarians for medical residency spots, the Ford government will introduce legislation to ease the restriction against international graduates in accessing these coveted placements.

The move comes on the heels of the government quietly rescinding its policy, implemented abruptly last fall, that would have restricted international medical graduates in the first round of residency matching to those who had completed two years of Ontario high school.

That rule faced a Charter challenge and was criticized by physician advocacy groups, who called the change discriminatory and warned it would destabilize family medicine programs at a time when the province already faced a family doctor shortage.

The proposed legislation, which still states international medical graduates must have completed two years of high school in the province, has broadened its scope to also include those who attended an Ontario university in person and full time for two or more years, and who lived continuously in the province for 24 weeks in the year before applying for the matching process.

For the 2027 match, the province said the counting for the 24-week Ontario residency requirement would begin Jan. 1, 2025.

“This proposed change to the matching process would make it easier for Ontarians studying medicine abroad to attend residency and have a career as a doctor back home in Ontario,” Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said in a press release on Friday.

Advocates welcomed the move, saying a legislative process that involves committee hearings and public consultation allows more transparency and is the proper way to introduce such changes.

However, they are concerned about the tight timeline of the province’s plan to pass the proposed legislation to implement the changes this summer, ahead of the September 2026 application cycle for the 2027 match. 

“To make this type of changes and to do the legislative process, you can’t do that in two, three months,” said Julie Sobowale, executive director of the Black Physicians of Canada, one of the parties that sued the government over the now rescinded policy.

“That’s not practical. We’ve seen in other jurisdictions trying to make legislative changes very quickly in an expedited way, where there isn’t enough time to have that consultation.”

The Ontario Medical Association, which had opposed the government’s earlier policy change for IMGs, said the proposed law broadens the pathways to residency but cautioned it still puts limits on medical residencies when Ontario is facing a doctor shortage. 

“This (legislation) recognizes there are multiple ways for physicians to have meaningful connections to Ontario, but any kinds of restrictions of access to the first round of match still risks excluding some of those qualified, internationally trained physicians who are really ready to care for patients,” said OMA president Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman, adding the organization wants to review details of the legislation. 

“We agree that bringing home Ontario students to practise family medicine in our province is very important, but we have to be careful that any policies don’t have unintended consequences.”