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The head of Canada’s national physicians’ organization says the country needs better ways of figuring out how many doctors, nurses and other health workers should be trained, to avoid future shortages.

Dr. Dana Hanson, president of the Canadian Medical Association, came to Iqaluit last week to talk with Ed Picco, Nunavut’s health minister, and Bernie Blais, the new deputy minister of health.

Dr. Sandy MacDonald, Nunavut’s director of medical health, said Nunavut needs more doctors, but doesn’t have enough money in its health budget to create the extra positions.

“I think Nunavut should have somewhere between 20 and 25 physicians across the territory,” MacDonald told reporters.

Right now, about 15 doctors are serving in Nunavut, many of them on short-term contracts.

The building of two enlarged health centres, or “cottage hospitals” in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet will likely create a need for more doctors, but MacDonald said the health department doesn’t know how many yet.

“I don’t know exactly what the impact will be, but based on my experience the change is likely to be greater in the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions than in the Baffin,” MacDonald said.

That’s because the Baffin is getting a replacement for a hospital that already exists, but the other two communities are getting new kinds of facilities.