Manitoba recruits U.S. doctors, one points to political climate as a factor

WINNIPEG — Thirteen U.S.-trained doctors have come to Manitoba since May as part of a provincial government effort to recruit health professionals and reduce wait times, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Friday.

The increase followed the establishment last spring of a dedicated recruitment and retention office and is well above the three or fewer American doctors recruited in each of the last six years, tabulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba.

“Doctors are telling us very clearly why they’re choosing our province,” Asagwara said.

“They want to practise medicine without insurance barriers getting in the way. They want less administrative overhead and more time with their patients.”

One recent recruit is Dr. Jesse Krikorian, a family physician who moved from Michigan last summer and now works at a community health clinic in Winnipeg.

Krikorian said Friday there was government interference in health care in the United States.

“I focus on underserved populations and that includes LGBTQ+ populations,” Krikorian said. “So I saw, sort of, the writing on the wall that it was going to become more and more difficult to provide quality care to those patients.”

Canada’s publicly funded health system also helped attract Krikorian, who said some of his patients south of the border delayed followup care because of cost.

The 13 American doctors are a net increase and in addition to 285 from Canada and other countries since the 2023 provincial election, Asagwara said.

The NDP’s promise to improve health care was a central plank in its election campaign platform. To date, wait times at hospitals and urgent care centres remain high.

Getting those wait times down will take time, Asagwara said, but the government has opened more clinics for minor illnesses and primary care.

The government also said it’s still in talks with dozens of other American doctors who may move north.

“To paraphrase what it says at the Statue of Liberty, give us your poor, give us your weary, give us your Americans yearning to be free,” Premier Wab Kinew said.

Doctors Manitoba, which represents physicians across the province, welcomed the U.S. recruitment but said it’s still concerned about the overall number.

“We have long advocated for a focused approach to U.S. recruitment and we are excited to see the results,” said a statement from the group.

“While recruitment is picking up generally, we remain concerned about retaining the doctors we have. Manitoba performs among the worst in Canada when it comes to retaining our medical school graduates and on losing doctors to other provinces.”

Statistics from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba show there were 302 new physicians in the province in the fiscal year that ended last March. But 138 left their practice or moved elsewhere, resulting in a net gain of 164.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press