Canada has a lot more number of doctors over the last five years and the rate of increase is greater than the rate of population growth, as per a new report which was greeted this week with a careful but positive outlook.

Dr. Cal Gutkin, executive director and CEO of the College of Family Physicians of Canada said, "We have obviously woken up to the fact in the last few years that we have this significant shortage of physicians, and there are various strategies that have started to be put into place that I think are beginning to produce some results, so I think that can only be interpreted as an early piece of good news."

A 176-page long study- Supply, Migration and Distribution of Canadian Physicians- was released this week by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

It makes use of Scott's Medical Database, which covers almost all the medical doctors in Canada. It is just those who see patients but also those who are doing the research, teaching and administration.

According to the study there were 65,440 active physicians in Canada in 2008, up from 60,612 in 2004.