To put the $25 billion in total gross payments to doctors into perspective, Canada spends $18 to $20 billion a year on defence. The average gross payment per physician was $339,000, ranging from $258,000 in Nova Scotia to $366,000 in Alberta. Ballinger said 2015 was the first year Alberta topped the country in average gross clinical payment per doctor. On average, Canada experienced a brain gain with more physicians returning to the country than leaving. Currently, about a quarter of the physician workforce trained outside of Canada, which Ballinger said is down from the 1970s.

Source: CBC News August 23, 2016 14:00 UTC