The Ontario government has opened applications for the new Ontario Learn and Stay Grant – Medical Education program to help more than 2,000 Ontario medical students studying to become family doctors and practise in the province.
Backed by a $220 million investment, the new grant stream will cover undergraduate medical school tuition, books and other direct education costs for postgraduate medical students if they commit to working as family doctors anywhere in Ontario for a minimum of five years after graduation.
“Ontario’s family doctors provide the high-quality and compassionate care that keep our families and communities healthy,” said Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “By breaking down financial barriers for our province’s next generation of family doctors, we are strengthening Ontario’s pipeline of highly skilled physicians, ensuring everyone can access the care they need, when and where they need it.”
First launched in spring 2023, the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant covers the cost of tuition, books and other direct educational costs for students in nursing, paramedic and medical laboratory technology or science programs in high-need areas of the province who commit to working in the region where they studied after graduation.
In 2024, the government announced an $88 million expansion of the program to train 1,360 future family doctors in exchange for students agreeing to practise family medicine anywhere in Ontario upon graduation. The province has now increased that investment to $220 million to support four cohorts of future family doctors, totalling more than 2,000 medical students.
“Today’s announcement builds on the bold action our government has taken to expand medical education and train the next generation of health-care professionals,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By expanding the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant to include family medicine, we are taking the next step in ensuring Ontario has the world-class health-care workforce it needs for years to come.”
The expanded program could help up to two million people become or remain attached to primary care, based on average attachment rates for family doctors. While Ontario continues to lead the country with nearly 90 per cent of people connected to a primary care provider, the province has set a goal of connecting every person to a family doctor or primary care team by 2029.
“Thank you to the Ontario Government for this important investment in the next generation of family physicians in the province,” said Dr. John Yoo, dean of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. “This support is critical to improving access to primary care for people across Ontario. Western is proud to play a leading role in training future family doctors. We are committed to ensuring our medical students and residents have meaningful opportunities to learn and train in rural and regional communities, strengthening the physician workforce and improving access to high-quality care across Southwestern Ontario.”
To be eligible for the program, students must be enrolled in a postgraduate family medicine residency program at an Ontario medical school. The four cohorts of students covered by the investment will begin their residency between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2030.
To date, the Ontario government has invested more than $182 million through the Learn and Stay Grant to fund the education of 13,300 future nurses, paramedics and medical lab technologists in high-need areas of the province.
The province is also investing in the largest medical school education expansion in more than a decade, adding 340 undergraduate seats and 551 postgraduate medical residency positions by 2028-29, a 67 per cent increase in family medicine learners. In July, the government announced $55.8 million to support the planning and operations of York University’s new School of Medicine, the first medical school in Ontario focused on training family doctors.
