Doctors still suffer high rate of burnout: CMA

OTTAWA – New data from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) show that Canadian physicians are still struggling with high rates of burnout and depression five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, survey results also show that physicians are increasingly likely to seek wellness support and embrace other solutions.

The CMA is releasing preliminary data from its 2025 National Physician Health Survey (NPHS). While certain wellness indicators have improved since the last survey (2021), most wellness indicators – including excessive workloads, exhaustion, moral distress and burnout – have not returned to pre-pandemic (2017) levels, which were already poor.

Some of the challenges highlighted in the 2025 survey include:

• 46% of physicians report high levels of burnout, down from 2021 (53%) but still significantly above 2017 levels (30%);
• 74% of physicians report having experienced bullying, harassment, microaggressions, and/or discrimination, a slight but meaningful decline from 78% in 2021;
• 64% of physicians reported spending a significant amount of time on electronic medical records (EMRs) outside regular hours. In total, physicians are working 10.4 hours per week on administrative tasks.

Encouragingly, 65% of physicians accessed at least one wellness support, up significantly from 54% in 2021. The survey also shows that 60% report being satisfied with work-life integration, a clear improvement from 49% in 2021.

“As I meet with CMA members across the country, they are telling me that they still feel the heavy burden of an overstretched healthcare system,” said Dr. Margot Burnell (pictured), CMA president. “It’s encouraging that physicians are willing to seek help, but more work is needed to ensure they can thrive in a health system that provides care to patients while supporting providers.”

The data also underscores solutions to improve physician wellness. For example, 59% of respondents who used it say artificial intelligence decreased their time spent on administrative tasks, which is a key contributor to burnout. Other strategies to improve retention and wellness include supporting team-based care and increasing the number of physicians offering primary care.

The NPHS includes responses from approximately 3,300 practising physicians, medical residents and fellows surveyed from March 14 to April 15, 2025.