Canadian Institute for Health Information statistics indicate number of Newfoundland and Labrador physicians on par with rest of country

August 11, 1999
(Health and Community Services)

Canadian Institute for Health Information statistics indicate number of
Newfoundland and Labrador physicians on par with rest of country

The Department of Health and Community Services today received Newfoundland and Labrador's information from the Canadian Institute for Health Information's (CIHI) release of 1998 Statistics on Canadian Physicians. The information indicates this province is on par with the rest of the country overall in terms of numbers of physicians, and in some cases exceeds, the Canadian average.

According to the CIHI report released earlier today in Ottawa:

The number of specialist physicians in this province has increased every year from 1993 to 1998, for a total of 366 specialists in 1998.
Newfoundland had a slight increase in its number of family medicine and specialist physicians per 100,000 people from 1993 to 1998. At 171 physicians per 100,000, this province rated ahead of New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The Canadian average is 185 for every 100,000.
The number of family medicine physicians per 100,000 in this province was at 103 in 1998 compared to the Canadian average of 94 physicians per 100,000 people. Only three provinces, Quebec, BC and the Yukon exceeded Newfoundland's average.
There was a minor decrease (nine) in the number of family medicine physicians from 1997 to 1998. The total family medicine physicians in 1998 was 560.

The 1998 Statistics on Canadian Physicians excludes interns and residents, and the data is as of December 31 of the given year.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information found that for the second year in a row, there was minor growth in Canada's physician supply, largely due to the increasing numbers of specialists. The total number of specialists and family medicine physicians in Canada in 1998 was 56,203, an increase of 7.2 per cent over the preceding six years.

Media contact: Karen McCarthy, Communications, (709) 729-6670.

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Supply, Distribution and Migration of Canadian Physicians, 1998 Report

Table 1. Active Civilian Physicians by Province, Canada, 1993 to 1998

	Total Physicians
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Nfld.	971	968	940	928	932	926
P.E.I.	179	178	176	170	165	175
N.S.	1,857	1,775	1,733	1,746	1,766	1,830
N.B.	1,056	1,075	1,108	1,122	1,127	1,152
Que.	14,842	15,016	15,159	15,243	15,315	15,481
Ont.	20,799	20,581	20,447	20,216	20,202	20,469
Man.	2,017	1,978	1,983	1,973	2,013	2,018
Sask.	1,507	1,545	1,527	1,475	1,474	1,530
Atla.	4,584	4,552	4,485	4,472	4,511	4,762
B.C.	7,243	7,266	7,341	7,505	7,622	7,752
Yukon	39	42	44	47	50	46
N.W.T.	61	64	63	61	66	62
Canada	55,155	55,040	55,006	54,958	55,243	56,203

Notes: Excludes interns and residents. Data as of December 31 of given year.

Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information/SMDB

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Table 2. Active Civilian Physicians by Type of Physician and Province, Canada, 1993 to 1998

	Family Medicine						Specialists
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Nfld.	642	635	606	569	569	560	329	333	334	359	363	366
P.E.I.	107	105	100	99	95	100	72	73	76	71	70	75
N.S.	1,043	958	931	924	924	947	814	817	802	822	842	883
N.B.	632	639	660	662	657	675	424	436	448	460	470	477
Que.	7,420	7,421	7,528	7,561	7,559	7,685	7,422	7,595	7,631	7,682	7,756	7,796
Ont.	10,765	10,359	10,230	9,903	9,773	9,802	10,034	10,222	10,217	10,313	10,429	10,667
Man.	1,051	1,010	1,012	992	1,004	1,011	966	968	971	981	1,009	1,007
Sask.	949	949	932	879	868	896	558	596	595	596	606	634
Alta.	2,561	2,507	2,453	2,399	2,375	2,516	2,023	2,045	2,032	2,073	2,136	2,246
B.C.	4,106	4,048	4,080	4,144	4,189	4,263	3,137	3,218	3,261	3,361	3,433	3,489
Yukon	36	37	39	40	43	40	3	5	5	7	7	6
N.W.T.	49	51	48	49	52	47	12	13	15	12	14	15
Canada	29,361	28,719	28,619	28,221	28,108	28,542	25,794	26,321	26,387	26,737	27,135	27,661

Notes: Excludes interns and residents. Data as of December 31 of given year.

Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information/SMDB

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Table 3. Active Civilian Physicians per 100,000 Population by Province, Canada, 1993 to 1998

	Total Physicians
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Nfld.	168	170	167	166	170	171
P.E.I.	135	132	130	125	121	128
N.S.	201	191	186	187	189	196
N.B.	141	143	147	149	149	153
Que.	206	208	209	209	209	211
Ont.	193	189	185	181	178	178
Man.	180	176	175	174	177	177
Sask.	150	153	150	145	144	149
Atla.	171	167	163	159	157	162
B.C.	200	194	191	191	191	193
Yukon	130	139	140	146	156	149
N.W.T.	95	97	94	90	98	92
Canada	191	189	186	184	183	185

Notes: Physician per 100,000 population ratios are revised from previous years figures due to updated population estimates. Therefore, figures may differ from past publications. Excludes interns and residents. Data as of December 31 of given year.

Source: 1993 to 1998 population data: Statistics Canada, Demography Division, April, 1999. Canadian Institute for Health Information/SMDB

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Table 4. Active Civilian Physicians per 100,000 Population by Type of Physician and Province, Canada, 1993 to 1998

	Family Medicine						Specialists
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Nfld.	111	111	107	102	104	103	57	58	59	64	66	68
P.E.I.	80	78	74	73	70	73	54	54	56	52	51	55
N.S.	113	103	100	99	99	101	88	88	86	88	90	94
N.B.	84	85	88	88	87	90	57	58	60	61	62	63
Que.	103	103	104	104	103	105	103	105	105	105	106	106
Ont.	100	95	93	89	86	85	93	94	93	92	92	93
Man.	94	90	89	87	88	89	86	86	86	86	89	88
Sask.	94	94	92	86	85	87	55	59	59	58	59	62
Alta.	95	92	89	85	83	85	75	75	74	74	74	76
B.C.	113	108	106	106	105	106	86	86	85	86	86	87
Yukon	120	122	124	124	134	129	10	17	16	22	22	19
N.W.T.	76	77	72	73	77	69	19	20	22	18	21	22
Canada	102	98	97	95	93	94	89	90	89	90	90	91

Source: 1993 to 1998 population data: Statistics Canada, Demography Division, April, 1999. Canadian Institute for Health Information/SMDB

1999 08 11 11:35 a.m.

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