ManitobaSix doctors from the U.S. have accepted a position in Manitoba or are already working here. Five are working in Winnipeg, while one is in Prairie Mountain Health in western Manitoba. Those six are among a total of 33 U.S. physicians at various stages of the recruitment process, according to the province’s health minister. Health officials ramped up recruitment efforts following election of President Trump, and efforts paying offJosh Crabb · CBC News · Posted: Oct 20, 2025 7:21 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoA doctor is pictured wearing a lab coat and stethoscope in an exam room at a health clinic in Calgary, Alta. in this photo from July 14, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)Hospitals and clinics are starting to get a boost from south of the border, with a group representing doctors in the province saying the political climate in the U.S. is driving some of their physician colleagues to Manitoba.Health officials have been ramping up recruitment efforts of U.S. doctors in the wake of last November’s presidential election of Donald Trump, and now that work appears to be paying off.“I can tell you that we’ve already started welcoming physicians here from the U.S. I’ve been able to chat with a few myself and it’s wonderful to welcome them to our province,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Monday.Asagwara said six doctors from the U.S. have accepted a position in Manitoba or are already working here. Five are working in Winnipeg, while one is in Prairie Mountain Health in western Manitoba, the minister’s press secretary said.Those six are among a total of 33 U.S. physicians at various stages of the recruitment process. Work is still underway to bring the remaining 27 to Manitoba, Asagwara said.“It could be anything from they’re just getting their paperwork finalized with the employer, last details in terms of immigration, last details in terms of uprooting and moving their families to Manitoba,” Asagwara said. “We provide a lot of support so people can successfully relocate themselves and or their families to the province.”Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said 33 U.S. physicians are being recruited by the province, including 6 who have accepted a position or are already working here. (Travis Golby/CBC )The health minister’s office said work to recruit physicians from the U.S. ramped up about six months ago.But broader efforts began through the Health Care Recruitment and Retention Office more than a year ago, Asagwara’s press secretary said.Between 2020 and 2024 Manitoba welcomed between zero and three physicians from the U.S. to the province annually, according to the latest annual report from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of ManitobaSince November 2024 the college has registered a total of 10 doctors who most recently practiced or trained in the U.S., it said in an email to CBC. The regulator has an additional eight open applications for U.S. physicians.Dr. Nichelle Desilets, a rural physician and president of Doctors Manitoba, said there are advantages to recruiting U.S. doctors because they have similar training and might be used to the weather.“It’s probably been an untapped market in terms of recruitment of physicians for our area in the middle of the country,” Desilets said.Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets says a push to bring physicians into Manitoba from the U.S. appears to be showing positive results. (Submitted by Doctors Manitoba)The association started its own recruitment campaign because of the political climate south of the border.Desilets said wants to open its doors to any U.S. doctors who may have “a discomfort with having politics come into the exam room and into the patient-physician relationship.”While there’s a lot of focus on recruiting doctors right now, Desilets emphasized it’s important for the province to maintain a good relationship with physicians already working here because those doctors have put in time and made Manitoba their home.She added they will also be key in creating a good work environment for any new physicians.WATCH | Some U.S. doctors are moving to Manitoba:Some U.S. doctors make the move to Manitoba Hospitals and clinics are starting to get a boost from south of the border, as a group representing doctors in the province says the political climate in the U.S. is driving some doctors to Manitoba.ABOUT THE AUTHORJosh Crabb is a reporter with CBC Manitoba. He started reporting in 2005 at CKX-TV in Brandon, Man. After spending three years working in television in Red Deer, Alta., Josh returned to Manitoba in 2010 and has been covering stories across the province and in Winnipeg ever since.With files from Jim Agapito
Manitoba welcomes 6 new doctors from south of the border, nearly 30 more still being recruited
