Proportion of Physicians in Rural Areas

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Primary Care
Country
Canada
Publishing Organisation
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
Type of Quality Indicator
Structure
IOM Quality Dimension
Equity
Domain
Workforce

Defining Attributes

Definition

The proportion of active physicians in rural areas.

Numerator

The number of active physicians in rural areas. Rural status is derived using the postal code associated with the physician's primary mailing address. Based on Statistics Canada's methodology, postal codes outside of census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or census agglomerations (CAs) were coded as rural.

Denominator

The number of total active physicians in rural and urban areas

Exclusions

Residents, physicians in the military, and semi-retired and retired physicians Non-registered physicians who requested that their information not be published as of December 31 of the reference year Physicians whose urban/rural status is unknown

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Scott's Medical Database - Purchased annually by CIHI from Scott's MD Select. Data are collected from Jurisdictional registrars, medical schools, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods

CIHI Health workforce data tables

Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
Yes
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
Yes
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025