The content of the 2004 National Physician Survey questionnaires evolved from questions used in the College of Family Physicians (CFPC) of Canada's National Family Physician Workforce Survey (NFPWS), the Canadian Medical Association's Physician Resource Questionnaire (PRQ), and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada's Specialist Questionnaire.

The 2007 National Physician Survey (NPS) questions evolved from questions used on the 2004 NPS. A working group approach, including representatives from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College), the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and other affiliated societies was used to review and refine the 2004 questions. The refinement process included a call for content input. In particular, an effort was made to identify new areas of focus, with outreach to a wide range of medical associations/affiliates/groups, medical institutions, governments, research groups, etc. The rationale for the final questionnaire content was: 1) to repeat questions from the 2004 survey that were essential for longitudinal tracking; 2) to edit questions from the 2004 survey, to improve usefulness of the answers provided; 3) to put aside questions from the 2004 survey, where changes occur more gradually, and the 2004 results were still considered valid. These 2004 questions may be reconsidered for inclusion on later versions of the NPS questionnaire, e.g. 2010); 4) to add new questions in response to new and/or developing issues.

The questionnaire review and feedback collection process was repeated in 2010 to further refine the NPS and ensure its relevance to the important new topics arising in healthcare. 2010 survey returned to a single-length questionnaire format (as opposed to the 2007 that featured a short and a long version). The survey itself was shortened to just over ten pages (from 12 pages in 2007). As in 2007 input on the questionnaire was received from a variety of medical organizations.