Sault Ste. Marie needs more doctors, and meeting that need requires the City to invest in physician recruitment while developing and implementing a long-term strategy that builds a stronger pipeline of physicians who train, establish roots and ultimately choose to practice in our community.
That is why I have made expanding NOSM University’s presence in Sault Ste. Marie a priority as Mayor – with the goal of establishing a permanent academic campus where future physicians can complete their medical education here from start to finish. In 2024, City Council invested $75,000 to develop the business case and feasibility study for a NOSM U campus in Sault Ste. Marie, with another $25,000 contributed by Sault Area Hospital. The study brought together NOSM U, local health-care organizations, post-secondary institutions, Indigenous communities and other partners to determine how expanded medical education could help address our physician shortage. The resulting study identified a clear need and laid out a path toward establishing a permanent NOSM U presence in the community. I took that case directly to the Province, including advocating with the Minister of Health for a NOSM U campus and a Primary Care Teaching Clinic as an important first step.
That advocacy has already produced results.
‘Serving that need’
Record number of medical residents training in the Sault
In 2026, the Province selected Sault Ste. Marie for a new Primary Care Teaching Clinic, and it will train family medicine residents in a team-based environment while also helping expand access to primary care. It is expected to begin operating in 2027.
The federal government subsequently announced nearly $2 million to expand NOSM U training infrastructure across Northern Ontario, including new training space at Sault Area Hospital.
We are beginning to see the pipeline grow. In 2026, 28 medical residents were training in Sault Ste. Marie – the highest number in the city’s history. That growth builds on our longstanding partnership with NOSM U and gives us a better opportunity to convince physicians who train here to build their careers here.
That relationship has already proven valuable to recruitment. More than half of the physicians recruited to Sault Ste. Marie through the community’s recruitment program have completed some of their medical education or training locally.
At the same time, we have strengthened our direct physician recruitment efforts. City Council increased its investment in physician recruitment, and those efforts have produced results. Twelve physicians were recruited in 2025 alone – including nine family physicians – and the City’s latest strategic-plan reporting shows recruitment exceeding its target. The recruitment program is now expanding to two full-time recruiters to build on that progress.
There is still a significant physician shortage, and the need will not be solved through recruitment alone. That is why I believe we need to work on both sides of the equation: aggressively recruit doctors today while building the local medical-education pipeline that will help us recruit and retain more doctors for decades to come.
The Primary Care Teaching Clinic, increased physician recruitment and record number of medical residents training locally all represent progress, but there is much more work to do. Planning is now underway to expand NOSM U’s presence into a full academic campus in Sault Ste. Marie, which would allow students to complete all four years of their undergraduate medical education here.
Establishing a campus would allow us to build on what we already know works: the more opportunities physicians have to train and establish roots here, the better our opportunity to keep them here.
Over the past several years, we have built the business case for expanded medical education, successfully advocated for a new Primary Care Teaching Clinic, increased the number of doctors being recruited and reached a record number of medical residents training in our community. Now we need to build on that momentum and establish a permanent NOSM U campus in Sault Ste. Marie.
“During my time in the role, Matthew and I worked closely to strengthen the partnership between Sault Ste. Marie and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University including planning for, advocating for, and ultimately succeeding in establishing the new Primary Care Teaching Clinic. His efforts were transformative. The success that followed led to training more future physicians in the Sault. Together we created a strong partnership that expanded medical education and addressed the community’s healthcare needs. I cannot think of a greater champion who built health resources in this community.”
Retired President and Dean at NOSM U