Nigeria Faces Serious Doctors Shortage As Canada Unveils New Express Entry Pathway

Nigeria’s already strained health sector may witness an even sharper exodus of medical professionals as Canada moves to introduce a new Express Entry category for foreign-trained doctors by early 2026.

The Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lena Diab, alongside Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, Maggie Chi, announced the development on Tuesday.

The new pathway targets international doctors with at least one year of Canadian work experience in eligible medical occupations within the last three years, offering them a faster route to permanent residency.

The initiative, designed to ease Canada’s persistent physician shortages, comes at a time when Nigeria battles a deepening crisis in healthcare staffing, especially in the northern region where insecurity continues to fuel outward migration.

Recent data from the Joint Annual Review Health Sector Statistical Book 2025 paints a dire picture that states such as Yobe, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Jigawa have 0.5 doctors per 10,000 population, roughly one doctor for every 20,000 people.

This falls drastically short of the WHO’s recommended minimum of 2.5 doctors per 1,000 people, a threshold no Nigerian state currently meets.

With Canada opening its doors wider to medical professionals and tightening other immigration streams in 2026, concerns were mounting that Nigeria’s north, already the worst hit may face an even more severe doctor drain.