Medical Schools in Canada Accepting First-Year Medical Students

Dec 31, 2010
Pamela Palmer

This article lists the medical schools in Canada, as well as providing some information on the number of spaces available and geographic requirements.

There are many medical schools in Canada. An overview of the first year spaces available for applicants and some pertinent information about those programs and a link to a student doctor forum are provided below.

Western Medical Schools

University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, located in Vancouver, British Columbia

The University of British Columbia, in collaboration with other universities in British Columbia, offers 288 first year medical student spots throughout the province. At present there are 192 spaces available in Vancouver under the Vancouver Fraser Medical Program, 32 spaces in Victoria under the Island Medical Program (with the University of Victoria), 32 in Prince George under the Northern Medical Program (with UNBC), and 32 in Kelowna under the Southern Medical Program (with UBC-Okanagan). Up to 10% of the spaces are reserved for out-of-province applicants (who must be residents of Canada).

University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine

There are approximately 170 first year seats available, 85% of which are reserved for Alberta residents. The remaining 15% are out-of-province students, including Canadian residents who may be studying at international universities. All applicants must be Canadians or permanent residents.

University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, located in Edmonton, Alberta

There are approximately 167 positions available, being 125 for the four year program and the remainder for the 2/3 year program. 85% of the seats are reserved for residents of Alberta, and the remaining positions for other residents of Canada. Up to ten additional positions may be available for rural residents (being generally those from communities of less than 25,000 residents), and there are five over-quota positions available for aboriginal applicants.

University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

There are approximately 84 first year positions available, of which 9 are reserved for First Nations, Metis and Inuit students. There are also approximately 8 positions open to out-of-province residents, who must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.

University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba

There are approximately 110 seats available in the first year of the program, of which 90% are reserved for residents of Manitoba and the remainder for other Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.

Ontario Medical Schools

There is a streamlined application process set up for students applying to any of the six Ontario medical schools. Details of the process and additional information on the medical schools can be found at the website for the Ontario Medical Schools Application Process.

University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine

There are approximately 170 first year seats available in their medical program, some are which are designated as follows: up to 7 seats reserved for First Nations / Aboriginal applicants, up to 4 positions for military candidates, up to 8 positions for special admissions in the francophone program. All applicants must be permanent residents of Canada.

University of Toronto Department of Medicine

The University of Toronto admits 250 applicants in its first year class. Up to 7 seats are available for international students. The remainder of the seats are available to all Canadian citizens or permanent residents, with no preference given to students from any particular geographic area.

University of Western Ontario Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, located in London and Windsor, Ontario

The first year class is comprised of approximately 120 students. There are three seats reserved for First Nations, Metis and Inuit students. There are also about 7 seats reserved for three different combined programs, a MD/PhD program (3 seats), a MD / BESc program (3 seats) and an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery program (1 seat). Applicant from the "south western Ontario region" may have preference for many of the remaining seats available. All applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

McMaster University's Faculty of Health Sciences, located in Hamilton, Ontario

McMaster University accepts approximately 200 applicants per year between its campuses in Hamilton, Waterloo and the Niagara region. Approximately 90 percent of the first year places are reserved for Ontario residents, with the remainder available for all others, including international students.

School of Medicine at Queen's University located in Kingston, Ontario

One hundred students are accepted into first year medicine at Queen's University. Unlike most other universities, geographic factors do not seem to be considered when assessing applicants and the one hundred places seem to be available for all applicants.

Quebec Medical Schools

University of Montreal Faculty of Medicine

This French language program accepts approximately 164 first year applicants, mainly from Quebec. There are also some places available for francophone applicants from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and other provinces without a French language medical school program. In addition, there are a few positions available for francophones (including non-Canadians) who agree to practice in certain specified areas for a few years following completion of their studies.

University of Sherbrooke Medicine and Health Sciences, located in Sherbrooke, Quebec

This French language program is available for Canadian Citizens and landed immigrants, primarly from Quebec schools (80% colleges, 20% universitites) but also with quotas from other parts of Canada.

McGill University Faculty of Medicine, located in Montreal, Quebec

McGill University has many different categories of applicants with a quota in place for each category. These quotas include the following expected places available:

University applicants who are Canadians residing outside of Quebec: 9
University applicants who are international residents (including U.S. citizens): 4 to 7
University applicants who are residents of Quebec: 81
CEGEP applicants who are residents of Quebec: 81

Laval University Faculty of Medicine, located in Quebec

Laval University's program provides a medical education in French. They accept 199 first year students, all of whom are Quebec residents, approximately 55% from the CEGEP program and the remaining 45% from Universities.

Maritime Medical Schools

Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine

There are 108 spaces available to applicants, 30 of which are educated on the St. John, New Brunswick campus, and the remaining 78 spots are in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It appears that most of the spots are reserved for residents of the Maritimes, with as few as nine places available for persons who do not reside in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island.

Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, located in St. John's, Newfoundland

Memorial University accepts approximately 64 first year medical students into their program, almost all of them from the Maritimes. There were only 4 spots awarded to non-Maritimers in the details posted on their website, including one spot which appeared to be reserved for an applicant from the Yukon.