Canada’s New Immigration Pathway May Deepen Nigeria’s Doctor Exodus

By DIANA CHUKWUKA

CANADA’S plan to introduce a new Express Entry category for foreign-trained doctors by early 2026 is raising fresh concerns over Nigeria’s worsening health-worker shortage. Canadian Immigration Minister Lena Diab and Parliamentary Secretary Maggie Chi said the new pathway will offer faster permanent residency to international doctors who have at least one year of recent Canadian work experience.

The policy aims to address Canada’s chronic physician shortfall, but it arrives at a difficult moment for Nigeria, where insecurity and poor working conditions have fueled a steady outflow of medical personnel. The 2025 Joint Annual Review Health Sector Statistical Book shows that northern states such as Yobe, Kebbi, Zamfara and Jigawa have just 0.5 doctors per 10,000 residents—about one doctor for every 20,000 people.

Nigeria falls far below the WHO benchmark of 2.5 doctors per 1,000 population, and experts fear the new Canadian pathway could accelerate the departure of the few remaining specialists, especially in the already underserved north.