Over 1,000 Saudi medical residents and fellows in Canada will be allowed to continue their studies until alternative assignments are arranged, following a notice from the Saudi Ministry of Education through the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau (SACB) in Ottawa.
SACB is the official representative of the Saudi Ministry of Education which places hundreds of Saudi postgraduate medical students in Canadian hospitals, according to its website.
The medical students were given a three-week extension to Sept. 22 from the original Aug. 31 deadline.
This decision comes in the midst of the diplomatic spat between the Saudi Arabian and Canadian governments sparked by a tweet from Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland which criticized the arrest of Saudi women’s rights activists.
Following the tweets, the Saudi government announced retaliations including halting trade deals with Canada, stopping direct flights between the two countries, and pulling thousands of students in Canada studying under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP).
The scholarship covers tuition fees, health insurance, language classes, and a monthly stipend for living expenses.
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Canada put out a statement saying it’s pleased with the news.
“This is good news for the Saudi medical graduates, as well as the Canadian hospitals that benefit from the daily care these trainees provide to patients across Canada. This decision is also positive news for Canadian medical schools that benefit from the expertise of Saudi medical students,” the statement reads.
According to the statement, this means medical trainees who have completed their training will be able to write their exams in the fall.
But, despite the good news, the Resident Doctors of Canada (RDoC) which represents over 10,000 resident doctors across Canada, put a statement expressing concern about the Saudi government’s actions and “their impact on medical students, residents, and the ability of the Canadian health system to provide quality and timely care.”
“In many urban and rural centres, the sudden withdrawal will create increased stress on an already fragile system,” the statement reads. “Resident doctors provide round-the-clock care to patients in our teaching hospitals, and the removal of our Saudi Arabian colleagues will result in a large void that will need to be filled.”
According to the Globe and Mail, Saudi Arabia is by far the largest source of international medical residents and fellow training in Canada hospitals, which is the result of a decades-old visa program where the Saudi government pays approximately $100,000 a year for each medical trainee in Canada.
The Saudi doctors return home after completing residency placements or upgrading their skills through fellowships—while training in Canada, they treat patients at no cost to Canadian taxpayer, according to the article.
Besides Canadian hospitals losing the extra hands with patients, Canadian schools are expects to experience a financial hit.
According to Statistics Canada, a full-time Saudi student without Canadian citizenship attending a large school such as the University of British Columbia or the the University of Toronto would pay between $30,000 to $80,000 in tuition and living expenses.
The Saudi government has suspended scholarships for about 16,000 Saudi students studying in the country.
