City of Brantford Council supported a two-year $450,000 pilot program to bring more healthcare professionals to the city during a Committee of the Whole, planning and administration meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
The City has funded the Community Physician Recruitment Committee since 2002 to help recruit and retain family doctors, but the committee announced back in October 2024 that it would be disbanding in December 2025.
City Council asked that staff develop a program to replace it, and a report has now come forward with the two-year Primary Care Access Program.
“The proposed plan would continue the hands-on recruitment of family physicians and expand the focus to include recruitment of nurse practitioners and healthcare students,” stated the report from Aaron Wallace, Brantford’s Director of Strategic Initiatives. “The proposed plan includes a marketing campaign and relocation fund to incentivize healthcare professionals to relocate to Brantford.”
The $450,000 pilot program, proposed to be funded through the Community Groups Reserve, would help pay for a project coordinator, relocation costs, job board postings and recruitment, and a $40,000 marketing campaign in partnership with the Brantford Brant Norfolk Ontario Health Team (BBNOHT) and the Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant.
Wallace’s report states there are around 10,500 people in Brantford who don’t have a family physician and rely on walk-in clinics and emergency departments to meet their healthcare needs, creating high patient volumes and longer wait times.
“This number is forecasted to grow considerably as Brantford’s population increases, the pool of family medicine graduates decreases, and Brantford family doctors retire,” said Wallace. “Approximately 28 per cent of family doctors in Brantford are aged 60 or older and approaching retirement.”
According to the report, the two-year pilot program has three main objectives; to advocate for local primary care team resources, establish Brantford as a destination of choice for healthcare professionals, and support access to required clinical space.
“In January 2025, the Province of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team launched a $2.1 billion plan to expand primary care teams so 100 per cent of Ontarians can be connected to primary care by 2029,” said Wallace. “Interprofessional primary care teams are comprised of family physicians, and/or nurse practitioners, as well as registered nurses, physician assistants, physiotherapists, social workers, dieticians, pharmacists, and other allied health professionals. Research demonstrates that primary care teams can increase patient rosters, attract and retain more family medicine graduates, and scale up efficiency, while improving patient health outcomes.”
During the meeting, both Lynda Kohler, executive director of the Grand River Community Health Centre, and Dr. Danielle Major, a local physician and chair of the Brantford Brant Norfolk Primary Care Network, spoke in support of the program.
“Here in Brantford, the BBNOHT and Grand River Community Health Centre have been provincial leaders in operationalizing two rounds of interprofessional primary care team funding. We’ve built a foundation that’s ready for improving access to care,” Kohler. “…The BBOHT is now applying for the next round of interprofessional primary care team funding, with Brantford being a key focus. …This [pilot program] really supports our proposal in this next round, the funds we’ve applied for will increase the number of Brantford residents attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, while also strengthening the supports available to existing providers through expanded teams.”
Dr. Major, who has been practicing comprehensive primary care in Brantford for the past ten years, said she knows all about physician recruitment.
“I was first exposed to working in Brantford through clinical placements during my medical training, but it was the personal connection with the Brantford physician recruiter at the time that enticed me to come and work here when I completed my training,” she said. “Having her support, as far as touring potential practice locations, meeting clinicians in the community, and managing the practicalities of entering a new practice was particularly important as a new graduate.”
Dr. Major said that from the perspective of the local primary care community, the pilot program couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Many of our colleagues are approaching retirement, and those who remain in practice are feeling significant strain. Recruiting new family physicians and primary care nurse practitioners is critical, but just as important as ensuring that those who are already here have the supports they need to sustain their practices,” she said. “That’s why the City’s proposed $450,000 investment over two years is so valuable; it would help us attract new family physicians and primary care nurse practitioners, and retain existing ones. Additionally, it would help us to align local resources with the ongoing, provincial professional primary care team expansion and the coordinated work led by the BBNOHT and Grand River Community Health Centre.”
The vote to move forward with the pilot program was later carried unanimously.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
