The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have put pressure on the health care system right here in Ontario. We need more health care professionals now more than ever. With our health care services trying to stabilize after dealing with the COVID pandemic over the last two years, we need to address these urgent pressures so our province can stay open with an even stronger health care network.

Medical education is critical to providing Ontario with the health care and human resources that are desperately needed. Can the Minister of Colleges and Universities share the government’s plan to expand medical education so we can welcome more medical trainees into this province?

We currently have six universities that provide undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, but more action is needed to strengthen our health care and intellectual infrastructure. Our government understands the need for the correct number and mix of health professionals in the right places throughout this province.

Speaker, can the minister update the House on what the government is doing to strengthen the development of our existing medical education and professional development programs?

Thank you to the member for the question. We are taking it very seriously. This government wants to ensure that everyone in this province has access to a family physician, whether you are living in northern Ontario, rural Ontario or underserved areas within the GTA. That’s why we are taking measures to ensure that we are training more and more doctors by opening the new Brampton medical school, the Scarborough integrated medical school, as well as expanding the Queen’s Lakeridge Health centre. These are all measures we are taking to ensure we have more doctors for the future.

We’re also expanding the medical seats in this province. This is the first time this has been done in over a decade. There will be 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate seats.

This government takes this very seriously. We want to ensure every Ontarian has access to doctors and proper health care resources across this province. We will continue to work together with this and ensure that everyone has access to these resources.