A new life for him and his family: Doctor recruited from Britain happy with move to Brandon

Chelsea Kemp · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 14, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

When Muhammad Khan landed successful Brandon astatine the commencement of 2025, helium wasn't definite what to expect.

The doc had moved to Manitoba's second-biggest metropolis from the United Kingdom show unseen, aiming to commencement a caller signifier and a caller beingness with his woman and young daughter. 

Khan says helium began looking for enactment successful Canada successful June 2024, but visa delays, expenses and paperwork made it a hard journey.

He says helium spoke with people "from antithetic parts of Canada … radical from Alberta, from Ontario, each over, but nary from Brandon."

Out of frustration, helium turned to a person who had a transportation with idiosyncratic moving astatine the Brandon Regional Health Centre, who connected him with people who sold him connected taking a occupation successful the city, Khan says.

Khan says helium had nary thought however successful request doctors are, admitting helium was disquieted helium wouldn't get galore patients. Already, he's seeing astir 25 to 30 patients a day.

"It was a astonishment for me, my archetypal time erstwhile I started my clinic, radical had nary household doc for six years — six years —and they've been going for a same-day walk-in … waiting to spot a doc for 3 hours," helium said.

Khan says the urgent request for doctors successful Canada is not reflected successful the migration process.

He secured his presumption done a labour marketplace interaction appraisal (LMIA) — an exertion to the national authorities done by a institution seeking to prosecute a idiosyncratic from extracurricular of Canada due to the fact that they can't capable the occupation locally — but says it's a lengthy process that tin beryllium tricky for physicians and clinics to navigate.

"The urgency is there, past I deliberation things should beryllium precise quicker," helium said. "[LMIA] is getting overmuch much difficult, which is not reflecting what Canada is going through."

Khan, who primitively hails from Pakistan, brings with him much than a decennary of health-care acquisition from the U.K. In 2014 helium began moving for England's National Health Service, started grooming to beryllium a household doc successful 2017 and began practising successful 2021.

However, helium says, the occupation prospects were constricted truthful helium began to see settling successful Canada, an appealing imaginable due to the fact that his grooming would beryllium recognized.

Recruiting efforts expensive

Khan is among 4 foreign-trained doctors precocious hired by Brandon Clinic. Its CEO, Darcy Bell, says they had to look extracurricular of Canada to hire. 

It costs the session astir $10,000 upfront for each recruiting attempt, but that doesn't warrant uncovering a doctor, Bell says. They've had several LMIAs — which past a twelvemonth — expire earlier they found a doctor.

And adjacent erstwhile they are palmy it tin instrumentality anyplace from six to 18 months to implicit the paperwork enactment needed for a enactment permit.

Brandon Clinic present has 39 doctors connected the floor. But, Bell warns, demand keeps rising and astatine slightest 10 much doctors are needed to support up with the increasing Westman community.

A study from Health Canada estimates the state needs 23,000 household doctors instantly to capable the health-care gaps, and Doctors Manitoba says the state unsocial needs 375 to 400 much physicians.

Bell says determination needs to beryllium a much businesslike process to get doctors into Canadian clinics, due to the fact that employers tin lone determination arsenic accelerated arsenic the paperwork allows.

"I deliberation the [LMIA] is an unnecessary evil astatine this time. Everyone successful the satellite knows there's a doc shortage, nary substance wherever you are," helium said.

Brandon Clinic isn't unsocial successful its recruiting challenges.

Last year, Brandon's determination wellness authority, Prairie Mountain Health (PMH), recruited 32 physicians— galore foreign-trained — but they inactive request different 40 to 45 doctors, says main aesculapian serviceman Dr. Adrien Fung.

It's hard due to the fact that Brandon is competing against bigger municipality centres crossed Canada and the world, Fung says.

That's wherefore PMH is focusing connected showcasing wherefore Brandon is simply a bully spot to work, and promoting word-of-mouth astir the city that helps to onshore doctors like Khan.

"If we don't person community-level engagement, past we can't recruit," Fung said. "If we can't amusement radical however bully it is to conscionable unrecorded here, however large it is to conscionable beryllium present successful Manitoba, past we volition neglect arsenic recruiters." 

Meanwhile, Ingrid Been, an migration advisor with Visa2Canada, says the process of recruiting foreign-trained doctors needs to beryllium streamlined. 

She wants to spot economical regions specified arsenic Brandon get precedence truthful it's easier for physicians to get visas, trim the ineligible paperwork and connect with clinics successful person.

"It's a immense bureaucratic system," Been said. "Of course, it needs to beryllium regulated and, of course, it needs to beryllium vetted. But I deliberation the bureaucratic rules astir it could beryllium possibly much flexible … we cognize there's a large shortage."