If you have spent months or years on a waitlist for a family doctor, you already know the shape of this problem. According to the Ontario Medical Association, as of December 2025, more than 2.5 million people in the province did not have access to primary care. This week, the government put serious money behind one of its answers.
CTV News Toronto reported that the province is committing $55.8 million to York University's School of Medicine, the first medical school in Ontario built specifically to train family doctors. It is scheduled to welcome its first students in 2028 on a site next to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital. The family doctor shortage is the reason the school exists at all.
The bottom line. This is real money aimed squarely at the right problem, and it will not help you this year. The first students arrive in 2028 and medical training takes years after that, so the effect arrives in the 2030s. What changes now is the trajectory, since the province is adding a steady pipeline of family physicians at exactly the moment retirements threaten to widen the gap. In the meantime, the practical moves are registering with the provincial matching service and using walk in clinics and pharmacists rather than postponing care.
Key takeaways.
The province is committing $55.8 million to York University's School of Medicine, the first in Ontario dedicated to training family doctors.
The school opens in 2028 next to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, starting with 80 undergraduate seats and 102 postgraduate positions, growing to 240 and 293 at full capacity.
The Ontario Medical Association estimated as of December 2025 that more than 2.5 million Ontarians lack access to primary care.
The funding sits inside a $3.4 billion commitment to connect every Ontarian to a family doctor or primary care team by 2029.
Ontario says it is adding 340 undergraduate medical seats and 551 residency positions by the 2028 to 2029 academic year, which it describes as a 67 percent increase in family medicine graduates.
This is the second new medical school in the Greater Toronto Area in three years, after Toronto Metropolitan University opened its school in Brampton in September 2025.
How bad is primary care access in Ontario right now?
Primary care means the everyday, first-contact care a family doctor or nurse practitioner provides, from checkups and prescriptions to catching something early. The Ontario Medical Association put the number of people without it at more than 2.5 million as of December 2025, and warned it could grow as physicians retire or consider leaving medicine altogether.
The consequence is not just inconvenience. When people cannot get primary care, small problems become large ones. A blood pressure reading nobody took, a mole nobody looked at, a cough nobody followed up. Those show up later in walk-in clinics and emergency departments, where the care is more expensive, more rushed and often too late to be preventive. Communities across the province have started competing for physicians with signing bonuses and municipally funded recruitment programs, which tells you how tight the supply has become.
What does this new Ontario medical school actually buy?
The provincial money covers accreditation, curriculum development, faculty recruitment and training, a medical library and some initial operating costs. The building itself is a collective effort. York University is raising $350 million to construct it, York Region council voted $25 million toward the project in November 2025, the city of Vaughan donated the land, and the province had already provided a $9 million planning grant in 2024.
The school will open with 80 undergraduate seats and 102 postgraduate positions, with plans to grow to 240 undergraduate and 293 postgraduate spots. Every one of those seats is pointed at the specialty Ontario is shortest on, which is what makes this different from simply adding capacity in general. It follows Toronto Metropolitan University's School of Medicine, which opened in Brampton in September 2025, meaning the Greater Toronto Area is getting two new medical schools within three years of each other.
Nolan Quinn, Ontario's Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, told CTV News Toronto that York University will be a big part of ensuring the province has enough family physicians. Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the investment brings the province closer to adding hundreds of new family medicine seats. The honest caveat is timing, and neither minister disputed it. The first students arrive in 2028, and medical training takes years after admission, so this is a long-term fix rather than relief this winter.
What can you do about walk-in clinic wait times while you wait for a match?
Waiting on a system-level fix is not a health plan, and the family doctor shortage is not going to resolve before the winter. This is the practical sequence for the next few months.
Register with Health Care Connect, the provincial program that matches patients with family doctors and nurse practitioners accepting new patients, and keep your contact details current, because matches move faster in some regions than others.
Do not postpone care while you wait. Walk-in clinics handle a great deal, from prescription renewals to minor illness, and going early is cheaper than going late.
Use your pharmacist first for minor ailments, renewals and vaccination. Ontario pharmacists can now assess and prescribe for a defined list of common conditions, which is why pharmacies have become part of the wait time solution.
Keep your own records. Note dates, symptoms, prescriptions and test results, so whoever eventually takes you on as a patient is not starting from zero.
Check wait times before you leave the house rather than guessing which clinic is emptiest, since a twenty-minute drive can save a three-hour wait.
Know the difference between urgent care and the emergency department, because choosing wrong costs you hours. Our guide to urgent care versus the ER in Canada walks through which is which.
Who is most affected by finding a family doctor taking this long?
The people who lose most are the ones with the least slack. Older adults managing several conditions at once, people with chronic illness who need continuity rather than a new face each visit, newcomers navigating an unfamiliar system, and anyone whose symptoms are vague enough to need someone who knows their history. Continuity of care is not a nicety. A clinician who has seen you three times catches the change that a stranger cannot.
If you are in that group, be persistent rather than patient. Register with the matching service, ask clinics directly whether they are taking patients, and ask again in a few months, because rosters open without announcement. And keep an eye on the health problems doctors see most, because knowing what warrants an appointment helps you spend the access you do have on the things that matter.
What else do people ask about this?
How many Ontarians do not have a family doctor?
The Ontario Medical Association estimated that as of December 2025, more than 2.5 million people in Ontario did not have access to primary care. The association warned the figure could grow as physicians retire or leave medicine. The family doctor shortage is the stated reason behind the province's new medical school funding.
When does the York University School of Medicine open?
The school is scheduled to welcome its first students in 2028, on a site next to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital. It opens with 80 undergraduate seats and 102 postgraduate positions, growing to 240 undergraduate and 293 postgraduate spots at full capacity. Medical training takes years, so graduates reach practice in the 2030s.
What is Health Care Connect?
Health Care Connect is Ontario's provincial program that matches residents without a family doctor to physicians and nurse practitioners accepting new patients. Registration is free. Match times vary considerably by region, so keeping your contact information current matters, and registering does not prevent you from approaching clinics directly.
Will the new medical school fix the shortage?
Not on its own and not soon. The school is part of a $3.4 billion provincial commitment to connect every Ontarian to primary care by 2029, and Ontario says it is adding 340 undergraduate medical seats and 551 residency positions by 2028 to 2029. The first York graduates reach practice in the 2030s.
What should I do if I need care and have no family doctor?
Use walk-in clinics for minor illness and prescription renewals, and your pharmacist for the conditions they are authorized to assess. Check clinic wait times before travelling. Keep your own record of symptoms, prescriptions and results. Register with Health Care Connect, and re-ask local clinics periodically, since rosters open without notice.
Your next step. While you wait for a match, Medimap can show you real-time wait times at walk-in clinics near you so you can be seen today instead of putting your health on hold. For more on navigating the Canadian system as it stands, browse the Medimap Health Hub.
Disclaimer: This article is general health information and is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a substitute for care from a licensed professional. In an emergency, call 911. For non-urgent concerns, see a doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist.
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