The number of physicians in Canada continues to increase, says a new report, but the average age of those doctors is rising too, leading to worries there won't be enough of them when our aging medical workforce begins to retire.

"Canada has an aging population, a demographic crisis, if you like, in terms of the demands on the health care system," Canadian Medical Association President Brian Day told CTV News.

In an annual report tracking changes in the physician workforce in Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) says the average age of doctors in Canada reached 49 years in 2006, an increase of 1.5 years since 2002.

Over the past five years, the number of physicians aged 60 or more has increased by a full 28 per cent, while the number of physicians under the age of 40 actually decreased by 10 per cent.

What's more, these younger doctors joining the workforce tend to approach their profession differently than their older counterparts, says Geoff Ballinger, CIHI Manager of Health Human Resources.

"They tend to put more emphasis on work-life balance, and may see fewer patients on average than older physicians as a result," says Ballinger.

"It's important for health planners to understand these differences in practice patterns, particularly as a greater number of doctors approach their retirement years."

Overall, the number of family physicians rose 5.7 per cent between 2002 to 2006, slightly outpacing the growth of the Canadian population during the same time, but the number of specialists rose by just 4.0 per cent.

The number of family practitioners rose from 96 per 100,000 Canadians in 2002 to 98 per 100,000 in 2006. The number of specialists relative to the size of the population saw a slight decrease over this five-year period, from 93 per 100,000 to 92 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, the number of female physicians grew by an impressive 13 per cent between 2002 and 2006, compared to an increase of just one per cent for male physicians.

Overall last year, women made up 33 per cent of the total physician workforce and nearly half (49 per cent) of all medical doctors under the age of 40.

More physicians returning to Canada

The number of physicians who moved abroad decreased by 57 per cent over the past five years. Furthermore, for the third year in a row, the number of physicians returning from abroad in 2006 was greater than the number leaving Canada (238 compared to 207).

Many physicians also moved between jurisdictions within Canada. Between 2002 and 2006, Alberta and British Columbia were the only two jurisdictions that continuously experienced net gains in physicians from interprovincial migration.

The number of doctors trained in Canada grew by 5.2 per cent between 2002 and 2006, compared to an increase of 0.7 per cent in the number of foreign-trained physicians. Doctors trained abroad come primarily from the United Kingdom and Ireland, South Africa, India, Egypt and the United States.