Lack of primary care so ‘chronic’ that patients don’t even talk about it, says Liberal MP and doctor Powlowski

Two recent surveys find that a significant portion of Canadians do not have access to a primary care provider as governments across Canada attempt to tackle the long-time health human resources shortage.

Liberal MP and doctor Marcus Powlowski continues to practice medicine in his riding of Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Ont. ‘I don’t spend a lot of time talking politics when I’m practising medicine. People are happy to see a doctor and I think the lack of primary health care has become so chronic, people don’t usually bother mentioning it,’ he says.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY TESSIE SANCI

December 15, 2025

The difficulty in accessing primary care is so prevalent that patients don’t even bring it up, says Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, a medical doctor who also works in a walk-in clinic in his northern Ontario riding when he isn’t in Ottawa.

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