College Welcomes Immigration Announcement

The College welcomes today’s announcement by Immigration Minister Lena Diab of a new immigration stream for doctors looking to come to the province. The new stream makes the immigration process easier and faster for internationally trained primary care doctors and specialists who have approved job offers from the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) or the IWK Health Centre.

“The College had met with Immigration Nova Scotia and had identified opportunities to remove duplication for physicians wishing to immigrate and become licensed to practice medicine in our province and we are delighted to see this new process move forward,” said Dr. Gus Grant, Registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia.

The College already determines eligibility for medical licensure, including the verification of education, training and practice experience of all applicants. As well, the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK assess education, language ability, certification and credential recognition as part of their hiring process. The new stream will rely on these assessments, eliminating duplication.

“The public entrusts the College to effectively license qualified physicians and we have made it a priority to offer eligible physicians an easy and efficient process for licensure,” said Dr. Grant.

More information for physicians is available at Nova Scotia Immigration.