AI can help address Canada's doctor shortage, panel explores at Montreal conference

Approximately 5.9 million Canadian adults lack a designated primary care provider, according to a 2025 survey by Unity Health Toronto and the Canadian Medical Association. At the All In 2026 conference in Montreal this week, experts debated whether artificial intelligence could help close that gap.

Muhammad Mamdani, director of the Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine at the University of Toronto, spoke about Google's project AMIE (Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer), which enables video consultations with an AI system. "It will hear your cough. It will see you wrapped in a blanket. It will know you have the chills," Mamdani told the panel. "We have six million people without a primary care physician. Can we now start to remedy this situation using AI? It won't replace doctors, I hope. But it will certainly alleviate the pressure."

The federal government launched "AI for All," Canada's national AI strategy, in June. The strategy plans development of a world-class AI supercomputer and investment in sovereign computing power and cloud infrastructure.

Elissa Strome, executive director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), noted that about 30 per cent of CIFAR's 150 Canada AI research chairs are working to advance science and application of AI within the healthcare system. CIFAR is developing an AI application that integrates medical imaging across different modalities and a dashboard for diabetes prevention and prediction.

"We need to have a dialogue with the public to better understand their fears and highlight the benefits," Strome said. "We need to include patients, clinicians, and developers in a single conversation." Panel experts cited public trust in artificial intelligence and data protection as major challenges to implementation. The timeline and funding allocation for specific AI for All health-care projects remain unannounced.