By Careviv Editorial Team, Careviv
Healthcare industry recruiters can help Canadian clinics widen their physician pipeline, but clinics still need a clear role profile, licensing plan, supervision capacity, and onboarding process before recruitment starts.
Healthcare industry recruiters are becoming more important for Canadian primary-care clinics because the hiring problem is no longer just about posting a job and waiting for applications. Clinics are competing for family physicians, international medical graduates, and clinicians who want a sustainable practice model. A useful recruitment partner should help a clinic clarify the opportunity, attract credible candidates, and keep licensing, relocation, and onboarding steps realistic.
For Careviv's clinic partners, that means recruitment is not treated as a one-time vacancy fill. It is a capacity-building process: understand the clinic's panel needs, define the physician role, support the work permit and licensing pathway where appropriate, and help the doctor land in a practice environment that can retain them.
Primary care access remains a real system pressure in Canada. CIHI reported that 83% of Canadian adults had access to a regular health care provider in 2024, which still leaves a meaningful share of adults without one. CIHI's 2024 health workforce reporting also notes that the supply of family physicians per population has decreased compared with five years earlier, and that a significant increase in family physicians would be required to meet current demand.
For clinics, those numbers show up as full panels, delayed attachment, difficulty replacing retiring doctors, and limited room to expand hours or services. A recruitment plan should therefore be tied to operations. A new physician is not just an extra provider; they may change room use, medical office assistant workload, billing workflows, supervision needs, and the clinic's ability to accept new patients.
Good recruiters in healthcare start by making the clinic opportunity sharper. Before candidates are approached, the clinic should be able to answer a few practical questions.
A medical recruitment agency that cannot answer these questions may still generate resumes, but it will not necessarily help a clinic build lasting capacity.
The keyword medical job placement agencies can describe a wide range of firms. Some place nurses, allied health professionals, administrators, temporary staff, or general healthcare workers. That can be valuable, but physician recruitment is more specialized.
A clinic looking for a family doctor should ask whether the agency understands provincial medical regulation, primary-care compensation, Canadian clinic operations, and international physician pathways. A medical placement agency may be strong for general staffing but weaker on physician licensing. A physician-focused medical recruitment agency should be able to discuss registration steps, supervision expectations where relevant, and candidate readiness without pretending that regulatory approval is guaranteed.
This distinction matters for UK-trained GPs. Careviv connects Canadian clinics with UK-trained GPs and supports relocation, licensing navigation, clinic matching, placement, and onboarding. That support is different from a simple job board or resume-forwarding service, because the candidate journey may include credential review, provincial college registration, immigration planning, and a clinic fit assessment.
British Columbia is a useful example because compensation and clinic sustainability are part of the recruitment conversation. The province's Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Model was created for family physicians providing longitudinal care and includes eligibility, enrolment, billing, and payment rules. Clinics recruiting family physicians in BC should be ready to explain whether the role fits a longitudinal model, a locum model, a walk-in model, or a blended clinic structure.
This is not just a billing detail. A physician deciding whether to join a clinic will want to understand how the practice supports continuity, administrative work, patient complexity, team-based care, and long-term income stability. Healthcare industry recruiters who understand these details can help clinics present the role in a way that is accurate and competitive.
International recruitment can expand the candidate pool, but it must be handled carefully. CPSBC provides information for international medical graduates and provisional licensing pathways. A provisional licence permits a physician to practise with limits and conditions granted by the college. Requirements can depend on the licence class, training background, certificates, assessment, and the facts of the application.
For a clinic, the practical lesson is simple: do not tell a candidate that licensing is automatic. A good recruiter should help map the likely pathway, identify documents and timing risks, and keep the clinic aligned with the provincial regulator's rules. The recruiter should also be clear about what the clinic may need to provide, such as supervision capacity or onboarding support, if required.
A recruiter should understand patient panels, EMR workflows, MOA support, clinic overhead, exam-room capacity, scheduling, call expectations, and the difference between short-term coverage and permanent practice growth.
A broad healthcare recruiter may have general candidates but not family physicians who are serious about Canada. Ask where candidates come from, how interest is verified, and whether the recruiter works with UK-trained GPs or other international physicians who may fit Canadian primary care.
A credible partner will not promise registration outcomes. They should explain that provincial colleges make licensing decisions and that pathways vary by province and candidate.
Recruitment does not end on a start date. The first months matter. Onboarding, community fit, clinic workflow, mentorship, and administrative support can affect whether a physician stays.
Overstated salary claims, vague timelines, and generic promises can damage trust with candidates. The best medical recruitment agency for a clinic is one that communicates clearly, even when the answer is complicated.
Careviv's focus is narrower than general healthcare staffing. Careviv works with Canadian clinics that want to expand primary-care capacity and are open to UK-trained GP talent. The support includes clinic matching, relocation and licensing navigation, placement coordination, and onboarding support.
For clinics, the value is not just access to a candidate list. It is help turning a physician vacancy into a realistic opportunity that a qualified GP can understand, trust, and evaluate. Clinics can share a physician opportunity with Careviv, and doctors can review the broader doctor relocation pathway.
A practical guide for Canadian clinics recruiting UK-trained GPs, from defining the role and checking pathways to relocation, onboarding, and retention.
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