The Ontario government is investing $55.8 million to support the planning and operations of a new medical school at York University, one focused specifically on training family doctors and set to open in 2028.
The York School of Medicine will be the first medical school in the province dedicated to primary care training, part of the government’s broader effort to ensure everyone in Ontario who wants a family doctor can find one. The funding will go toward accreditation, curriculum development, faculty recruitment, establishing a medical library, and training and operating costs for the school’s undergraduate and postgraduate programs. When it opens, the school will offer 80 undergraduate seats and 102 postgraduate seats, eventually growing to 240 undergraduate and 293 postgraduate seats at full capacity.
“Ontario-trained family doctors are the backbone of our health-care system, providing compassionate care for our loved ones from everyday checkups to life’s greatest challenges,” said Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “This investment will ensure that Ontario has a strong pipeline of family care providers to deliver excellent care for decades to come.”
Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said the funding builds on a broader push to expand medical training capacity across the province. “Our government is strengthening Ontario’s world-class physician workforce through the largest medical education expansion in over a decade,” she said. “Today’s $55.8 million investment in planning and operations at the new York School of Medicine brings us a step closer to adding hundreds of new family medicine seats, which will support the primary care needs of our province for generations to come.”
The investment adds to an initial $9 million the province put toward design and planning for the York school in 2024, and comes amid what officials describe as the largest expansion of medical education in Ontario in more than a decade — one that includes additional seats at all six existing medical schools and the creation of two new ones. The Toronto Metropolitan University Medical School, supported by $180 million from the province, welcomed its first cohort of students last fall in Brampton.
York University’s interim president and vice-chancellor, Lisa Philipps, said the funding affirms the university’s vision for training doctors suited to the communities they’ll serve. “We are deeply grateful for this $55.8 million investment from the Government of Ontario, which serves as a powerful vote of confidence in our vision for the York University School of Medicine,” she said. “This will be a school where physicians are trained for the health system Ontarians need. Together with our hospital and other health care partners, we are building a community-based model of medical education that will expand access to care across northern Toronto, York Region, Simcoe County, Muskoka and beyond as we move toward accreditation and prepare to welcome our inaugural class in 2028.”
By 2028-29, Ontario expects to add 340 undergraduate seats and 551 postgraduate medical residency positions across its medical schools, a 67 per cent increase in family medicine graduates. With York’s addition, the province will have eight medical schools by September 2028, and officials project a total of 1,292 undergraduate and 1,739 postgraduate seats once the expansion reaches maturity in 2033.
Starting this fall, all Ontario medical schools will be required to reserve at least 95 per cent of undergraduate spots for Ontario residents, with the remaining five per cent open to students from elsewhere in Canada. The province is also launching the Learn and Stay Grant – Medical Education program in fall 2026, which will provide funding to medical students who commit to practicing family medicine in Ontario for five years after graduation. The medical school investments are part of a broader $6.4-billion long-term funding model under which Ontario is spending $1.7 billion to fund 70,000 seats in labour-market-driven sectors, including health care.
