‘I’m a problem solver’: Meet the mayor whose plan to attract family doctors is turning heads across Canada – CBC

Clinic in small city outside Victoria is making family physicians municipal employees

Sep 21, 2025

When the mayor of Colwood, B.C., went for an appointment with his family doctor in 2022, he was in for a rude surprise. The doctor was moving away.

“I was absolutely stunned,” Doug Kobayashi said.

Kobayashi, who’s been mayor of the city near Victoria since 2022, could have waited for the B.C government to eventually step in with a plan to attract doctors.

But he didn’t. Instead, he stepped up with a solution of his own that could create a blueprint for other communities across the country struggling to attract and retain family doctors.

“Here’s the bottom line — making it as simple [for the doctor] as possible,” he said.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cities-hiring-family-doctor-1.7638292