{"id":23844,"date":"2025-09-17T14:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T10:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/blog\/studying-medicine-in-canada\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T15:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T12:00:11","slug":"studying-medicine-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/blog\/studying-medicine-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying Medicine in Canada: Entry Requirements, Exams and Licensing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Studying medicine in Canada is a goal for many international students who are also thinking about immigrating to Canada<\/a>. The teaching is strong, the universities are well regarded internationally, and physicians are in demand across most provinces.<\/p>\n

There is a hard fact to state at the outset. Canadian medical schools are among the most restricted programs in the country for international applicants. Several faculties, including the University of British Columbia and McMaster, admit only Canadian citizens and permanent residents to the MD program. The Quebec French-language faculties give priority to Quebec residents and hold only a small number of international seats under intergovernmental agreements. A few schools, including the University of Toronto and McGill, do admit a small number of international students each year. This article sets out the full path, the entrance tests, the documents and the licensing steps, so you can judge realistically whether it is a route worth pursuing.<\/p>\n

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This page is about studying<\/em> medicine in Canada. If you have already qualified as a physician and hold a licence to practise, the route you want is the Nova Scotia Defined licence route for doctors who already qualified<\/a> \u2014 it does not require the MCCQE, the NAC OSCE or a CaRMS match.<\/p>\n

Requirements for studying medicine in Canada<\/span><\/h2>\n

It is worth saying plainly that studying medicine in Canada<\/span> is difficult and the competition is severe. International applicants need a recognised English or French language test result<\/span>, and in practice they also need a very strong academic record<\/span> before a faculty will consider the file.<\/p>\n

The path to practising medicine in Canada has three main stages:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. An undergraduate degree, usually in the sciences<\/li>\n
  2. The MD program (Doctor of Medicine)<\/li>\n
  3. Residency training in a chosen specialty<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The undergraduate degree takes three to four years<\/strong> and the MD program takes four years<\/strong> at most schools. Residency then takes between two and seven years<\/strong> depending on the specialty, with family medicine at the short end and surgical specialties at the long end. Most applicants complete a bachelor’s degree in a science subject such as:<\/p>\n