Canadian Medical Association’s first Black president brings N.L. resilience to role

ST. JOHN’S – A dermatologist in St. John’s, N.L., is the first Black president of the Canadian Medical Association.

Dr. Bolu Ogunyemi officially assumed the role Friday at the organization’s annual general meeting in Ottawa. At age 39, he is among the youngest to ever lead the organization, which was founded in 1867.

Earlier this week, Ogunyemi said he was pleased to be in a position to inspire people from different backgrounds and ages to “bring their best selves.”

“I’m hoping that, in the future, the composition of physicians in our country more closely reflects the patients that we’re called to serve,” said Ogunyemi, who takes over the post from Dr. Margot Burnell of New Brunswick.

Ogunyemi said he is also the association’s first president to graduate from the medical school at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Ogunyemi has been practicing in St. John’s, N.L., since 2018. He also has a regular clinic in Labrador City, serving the western part of Labrador.

He wants to help improve Canadians’ access to family doctors and fight for better support for community-based physicians, who work outside of hospitals or other large health-care facilities. That includes helping governments find ways to ease the paperwork burden on doctors, he said.

Ogunyemi said he is also committed to the association’s goal of improving health-care for Indigenous Peoples.

People need quality local care, no matter where they live, Ogunyemi said. As a doctor who has worked in some of the most far-flung towns in Newfoundland and Labrador, he has seen first-hand how important that can be.

“Whether you’re all the way up in Nain, Labrador, or down in St. John’s, everyone deserves equitable access to care,” he said. “I see that as a challenge for me, as an individual physician, for our profession, for health care more broadly, and for government and other stakeholders.”

In fact, Ogunyemi said he is particularly well-equipped to tackle national health-care issues as a physician in Newfoundland and Labrador. The province has long been home to several health-care concerns now emerging across the country, including an aging population.

And finding solutions to the problems plaguing the health-care system will require the kind of resilience that arose in Newfoundland and Labrador after a 1992 moratorium on cod fishing wiped out its rural economy, Ogunyemi said.

“We’re genuine folks, we have generosity of spirit, and I think when we’re working with stakeholders and dealing with important, sensitive issues, it’s important to be able to bring your best self,” he said.

The Canadian Medical Association represents physicians across the country and its presidents are elected by its members.  The yearlong position rotates among the provinces and territories.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2026.