Is Toronto Serious When It Says, “We Need Qualified Doctors”?

If so, its actions suggest otherwise. Here’s the full story, and you can decide for yourself.

Dr. Michael Antil and his wife, an ESL teacher, moved from North Carolina to Toronto in July 2023. However, three years later, despite Canada’s well-documented doctor shortage and various pathways to citizenship for skilled workers like himself, he still does not have permanent residency.

This situation is not due to doubts about Dr. Antil’s credentials. With over 20 years of experience in the US, he is successfully managing a patient load of over 2,000 at a Toronto clinic. Yet, both he and his wife are living from one temporary work permit to the next. To make matters worse, not being a permanent resident in Canada obliges him to pay international student fees for his children’s post-secondary education and an additional 25 percent foreign buyers’ tax on his house.

Dr. Antil has faced three rejections on various technicalities, even though Ontario desperately needs qualified medical professionals to serve its 2.5 million residents without a family doctor.

Dr Antil’s employer, Albany Medical Clinic, acknowledges the irony of the situation. “He’s a wonderful doctor, and we believe he’s exactly the kind of physician we want in Canada,” said the clinic.

Backstory:

Dr. Antil’s immigration journey began in 2023 when he moved to Toronto after securing a five-year contract with Albany Medical Clinic. He came with a license from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) and an Ontario work permit.

While obtaining his credentials certified by CPSO and securing confirmation of his current job were time-consuming, securing permanent residency has proven to be a whole different challenge.

Upon arriving in Toronto, Antil learned from IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) that he did not meet the Express Entry points threshold for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. The reasons? He didn’t speak French, and his age of 47 was considered too old.

He decided to apply through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which awards bonus points to individuals with valuable skills. However, this route also required additional forms, including re-certification of his U.S. medical school diploma—a process he found unusual, given that he already held a medical license in Ontario.

What followed was a comical series of errors, including a two-month delay caused by his notary incorrectly signing Antil’s photo. As a result, he missed the OINP deadline, and his application was closed. Although he obtained the required certification two weeks later, he still had to file an appeal and is currently awaiting a decision from OINP.

Regarding IRCC, Antil re-applied but was blocked again due to two errors that cost him his application. His mistakes included checking the wrong box labeled “doctoral degree” instead of “professional degree,” and submitting his wife’s educational transcript without the official IRCC stamp of approval. These errors proved disastrous for his application.

Antil is now consulting with an immigration lawyer, who was not surprised by the rejections, viewing them as arising from what many see as technicalities.

“It’s a rigid system; one mistake can be fatal,” said the lawyer.

This makes the provincial government’s claims about a desperate need for qualified medical professionals sound shockingly insincere, as evidenced by Dr. Antil’s case, which shows that Ontario is effectively making it difficult for him to remain in the country.

Our final word: The next time we hear the city complain that it lacks enough doctors, let’s pause and consider Dr. Antil and his wife’s case.

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