National Occupational Classification (NOC): 31102
Fast Facts
- Average Pay: N/A
- Future Growth: N/A
- Skill Level: N/A
- Employment Size: N/A
- Unemployment: N/A
- Full-time Share: N/A
Sample Job Titles
- Family doctor
- Family physician
- Family practitioner
- General practice physician
- Industrial physician
- Medical doctor
- Medical officer of health
- Physician resident
- Telemedicine family physician
What do general practitioners and family physicians do?
General practitioners and family physicians diagnose and treat the diseases, physiological disorders and injuries of patients. They provide primary contact and continuous care toward the management of patients’ health. They usually work in private practice, including group or team practices, hospitals and clinics. Residents in training to be general practitioners or family physicians are included in this unit group.
General practitioners and family physicians perform some or all of the following duties:
- Examine patients and take their histories, order laboratory tests, X-rays and other diagnostic procedures and consult with other medical practitioners to evaluate patients’ physical and mental health
- Prescribe and administer medications and treatments
- Perform and assist in routine surgery
- Provide emergency care
- Provide acute care management
- Vaccinate patients to prevent and treat diseases
- Deliver babies and provide pre-natal and post-natal care
- Advise patients and their families on health care including health promotion, disease, illness and accident prevention
- Provide counselling and support to patients and their families on a wide range of health and lifestyle issues
- Perform patient advocacy role
- Coordinate or manage primary patient care
- Provide continuous care to patients
- Supervise home care services
- Report births, deaths, and contagious and other diseases to governmental authorities.
Source: National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada
General practitioners and family physicians work in the following subsectors (NAICS) in Newfoundland and Labrador:
- 621 Ambulatory health care services
- 622 Hospitals
- 611 Educational services
Source: Census 2021, Statistics Canada
Short and Long Term Occupational Projections
Short Term Projections for 2025-2027
The employment outlook will be very good for general practitioners and family physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador (rating of 5 out of 5) for the 2025-2027 period.
Source: Job Bank, Government of Canada
Number of Job Postings in 2025
During 2025, there were 22 public job postings for this occupation, with the following distribution:
| Avalon: 32% | Western: 9% |
| Eastern: 0% | Labrador: 0% |
| Central: 41% | NL-unspecified: 18% |
Source: Vicinity Jobs (note: data used in this analysis reflects new unique monthly postings which are totaled for the calendar year)
Who works as general practitioners and family physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador?
During the reference week of May 2021, there were approximately 725 people working in this occupation in Newfoundland and Labrador. 50% of those employed were Male+ and 50% of those employed were Female+.
Here is the age group breakdown for this group of workers:
| 15 to 24 | 25 to 54 | 55 to 64 | 65+ |
| 0% | 75% | 14% | 11% |
Source: Census 2021, Statistics Canada
How much do general practitioners and family physicians make?
The median employment income for all general practitioners and family physicians in the reference year 2020 (725 workers in total, including those working part-time and full-time, as well as part-year and full-year) was $138,000.
Source: Census 2021, Statistics Canada
Yearly Earnings
Salary information for general practitioners and family physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador is as follows:
| Low ($/year) | Median ($/year) | High ($/year) | |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $86,738 | $204,492 | $396,356 |
The following low, median, and high wages are for Canada:
| Low ($/year) | Median ($/year) | High ($/year) |
| $90,826 | $232,227 | $435,240 |
Source: Job Bank, Government of Canada
Most Frequently Sought Skills from Job Postings (2025)
- English language
- Long term care
- Teamwork
- Patient care
- Communication skills
- Emotional intelligence, empathy and compassion
Source: Vicinity Jobs
What training is required?
- A bachelor’s degree
or
in Quebec, completion of a college program and one year of pre-medicine university studies is usually required. - Graduation from an approved medical school
and
two to three years of family medicine residency training are required. - Completion of the qualifying examinations of the Medical Council of Canada or the Collège des médecins du Québec
and
licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority are required. - General practitioners and family physicians may become specialist physicians with additional training.
Source: National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada
* Find public and private education, training and skills development opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador here.