Job prospects Physician, Primary Care in the Red Deer Region

Over the past few years (2021-2023), there was a major labour shortage for General practitioners and family physicians in the Red Deer Region. There were far more job openings than workers available to fill them in this occupation.

Source Labour Market Information | Recent Trends Assessment Methodology

The employment outlook will be very good for General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Red Deer region for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to several new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Alberta’s population and its proportion of residents aged 65+ are predicted to increase over the next 20 years, contributing to demand for this occupation. Alberta’s Budget 2023 allocates $24.5 billion for health services in 2023-24, an increase of $965 million or 4.1% from 2022-23, including working with the University of Alberta and University of Calgary to increase the number of seats available for medical degrees by 20 in 2023-24, 60 in 2024-25, and 120 in 2025-26. Budget 2023 also includes $20 million over three years to address the shortage of rural physicians. Alberta plans to reform the management structure of Alberta Health Services this year which may have implications for job seekers.

Here are some key facts about General practitioners and family physicians in the Red Deer region:

• Approximately 230 people worked in this occupation in May 2021.
• General practitioners and family physicians mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Ambulatory health care services and hospitals (NAICS 621-622): more than 95%

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology