• Tara Kiran, Ri Wang, Curtis Handford, Nadine Laraya, Azza Eissa, Pauline Pariser, Rebecca Brown, and Cheryl Pedersen.
• Vice-Chair of Quality and Innovation in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, Scientist in the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto and a staff physician in the DFCM at St Michael's Hospital. tara.kiran@utoronto.ca.
• Can Fam Physician. 2022 Nov 1; 68 (11): 836846836-846.

ObjectiveTo determine the extent to which family physicians closed their doors altogether or for in-person visits during the pandemic, their future practice intentions, and related factors.DesignCross-sectional survey.SettingSix geographic areas in Toronto, Ont, aligned with Ontario Health Team regions.ParticipantsFamily doctors practising office-based, comprehensive family medicine.Main Outcome MeasuresPractice operations in January 2021, use of virtual care, and future plans.ResultsOf the 1016 (85.7%) individuals who responded to the survey, 99.7% (1001 of 1004) indicated their practices were open in January 2021, with 94.8% (928 of 979) seeing patients in person and 30.8% (264 of 856) providing in-person care to patients reporting COVID-19 symptoms. Respondents estimated spending 58.2% of clinical care time on telephone visits, 5.8% on video appointments, and 7.5% on e-mail or secure messaging. Among respondents, 17.5% (77 of 439) were planning to close their existing practices in the next 5 years. There were higher proportions of physicians who worked alone in clinics among those who did not see patients in person (27.6% no vs 12.4% yes, P<.05), among those who did not see symptomatic patients (15.6% no vs 6.5% yes, P<.001), and among those who planned to close their practices in the next 5 years (28.9% yes vs 13.9% no, P<.01).ConclusionMost family physicians in Toronto were open to in-person care in January 2021, but almost one-fifth were considering closing their practices in the next 5 years. Policy makers need to prepare for a growing family physician shortage and better understand factors that support recruitment and retention.Copyright © 2022 the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

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