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How family physicians are funded in Canada

Carmel M Martin and William E Hogg
Med J Aust 2004; 181 (2): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2004.tb06190.x
Published online: 19 July 2004

Family physicians (FPs) in Canada undergo specialised training, often in a Family Medicine Residency, and complete the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) national certification examination. Their payment is negotiated and administered separately by the 10 provincial governments and three territorial governments, using different funding arrangements in different settings. Under the Canada Health Act, provinces will be financially penalised if they permit private billing by physicians or copayments by provincially insured patients other than for certain services funded by third parties, such as insurance medical examinations, reports and travel services.


  • Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.


Correspondence: 

  • 1. The Janus Project: family physicians meeting the needs of tomorrow’s society. Results of the National Family Physician Surveys, 1997/98 and 2001. Regional reports. Available at: www.cfpc.ca/English/cfpc/research/janus%20project/ (accessed Mar 2004).
  • 2. Romanow RJ. Building on values: the future of health care in Canada — final report. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, 2002. Available at: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/care/romanow/hcc0086.html (accessed Jun 2004).
  • 3. Mable AL, Marriott J. Sharing the learning. The health transition fund. Synthesis series. Primary health care. Ottawa: Health Canada, 2002.
  • 4. Alternative payments and the national physician database (NPDB): the status of alternative payment programs for physicians in Canada 1999/2000. Ottawa: Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2001.
  • 5. Results of the CMA’s 2003 Physician Resource Questionnaire. Available at: www.cmaj.ca/cgi/data/169/7/701/DC1/25 (accessed Mar 2004).

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