"Medical Institute For Tamils" (MIFT) was officially registered in 1998 in Ontario -Canada as a non-profit organization representing Tamil speaking medical professionals in North America.

The necessity for an organization like MIFT arose as a result of a recently increased number of Tamil speaking medical professionals presence here in Canada & USA. This coincided with the influx of Tamil population to Canada, which amounts to almost 300,000 all over Canada. Many Physicians came through UK after completion of their post-graduate studies-others came here directly. They worked in different parts of Canada and made their move to Ontario to serve & to be with the Tamil community. So some Physicians got together and worked on establishing MIFT to improve the health care of the Tamil community and to maximize utilization of the services available for them here & abroad. Also they felt that the linguistic and cultural needs of our society should be taken in to account when the health care services are planned /rendered. They took the guide from MIOT-UK and took the task to organize MIFT to link the medical professionals on this side of the Atlantic.

MIFT currently provides a forum for its members to meet regularly and coordinate activity for the benefit of the Tamil community. It also plans to undertake research projects in this community. MIFT also liaises with other community organizations working with Tamils and provide them medical advise/guidance.

The first inaugural meeting took place in Scarborough, Canada on November 28, 1998 by the effort of this group of Physicians who had the vision for MIFT. This event was well attended by many Physicians and their families across the country.