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What the regulator publishes about being allowed to do this work here: what it issues, the route to it, where each step can be done, and what it costs where a figure is published.
NOC 31102 · TEER 1: usually a university degree · Checked pathway · checked October 25, 2026
The regulator here: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (its register)
Being allowed to work in an occupation and being allowed to come to Canada are two separate decisions, made by two different bodies. Nothing on this page is part of your immigration assessment, no rule in that assessment reads it, and meeting everything here does not make you eligible for any immigration program. The reverse is also true: an immigration approval gives nobody permission to practise a regulated occupation.
A qualification earned outside Canada is not recognized automatically. Each regulator decides for itself what it will accept from your own education, examinations and experience, and it decides that about you individually. What follows is the published route, not a decision about your case.
Covered: the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario's own pages on registration, its requirements, its practice ready assessment policy, its fee schedule and its application process, with CaRMS's eligibility criteria and fees, Touchstone Institute's Practice Ready Ontario page and the College of Family Physicians of Canada's examination page, all read on 2026-10-25. The Medical Council of Canada's pages were read the same day but refuse the monitor, so their words are held as drafts and every step rests on a regulator's page instead.
Anyone who wants to practise medicine in Ontario, wherever they were educated. For a family physician trained abroad there are two published routes to the Independent Practice certificate: a family medicine residency entered through the R-1 match, or Practice Ready Ontario for a physician who already practised family medicine independently abroad.
An international medical graduate with no accredited Canadian or United States postgraduate training who enters family medicine through the R-1 match. The College's own page says entry to an Ontario residency is through CaRMS, subject to CaRMS's eligibility requirements for Ontario.
When you may do the work or use the titleWhen the College has issued a certificate of registration and the person's name is on its Physician Register. During residency the postgraduate education certificate permits practice only as the programme requires and in its settings; independent, unsupervised practice begins only with the Independent Practice certificate, which requires certification by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and Canadian citizenship or permanent residence among its general requirements.
What the regulator decides about you individuallyWhether a medical school is an acceptable international medical school, whether an alternative examination is acceptable, and whether any exemption in the College's registration policies applies are the College's decisions about this applicant. Being matched to a programme is the programme's decision, through CaRMS. Neither is a step anyone can complete for a reader, and nothing here predicts either.
What you can do before you arrive
Steps that apply to everyone on this route
The College says documents such as medical school records have to come to it directly from the organization that holds them, and it assesses credentials itself rather than through physiciansapply.ca. The Medical Council of Canada's examinations, which the match requires, are applied for through a physiciansapply.ca account and need the medical degree source-verified first, which also means the school confirming it to the Council. These are the records to ask for while you can still reach the people who hold them.
Applies to everyone on this route
The request can be made from anywhere; the sending has to be done by the institution.
Delivered or received by: Your medical school and training institutions
Read from Apply for registration (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
Job Bank says the first step for a physician trained abroad is to contact the Medical Council of Canada. The Council's portal is physiciansapply.ca; the account is what gives access to source verification of credentials and to the examination applications, and the Council's page says an international graduate can apply for the MCCQE as soon as the source verification request for the medical degree has been submitted and paid for. The Council's own pages could not be read by the monitor and are held as drafts here, so confirm each detail on them before relying on it.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Ask your medical school and your training hospitals to send your records straight to the bodies that need them
The account is opened and the request made online from anywhere. The British Columbia College estimates the Council's source verification at two to three months; the Ontario College publishes no estimate for it.
Delivered or received by: Medical Council of Canada
Read from Job requirements: family physicians in Canada (Job Bank, Employment and Social Development Canada) on October 25, 2026.
CaRMS requires an international medical graduate in the R-1 match to have passed the MCCQE Part I, with some provinces allowing exceptions, and the College requires Part 1 of the MCCQE or the Evaluating Examination of an international graduate holding a postgraduate education certificate. A pass is also the main requirement for the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada, which the College's independent practice requirements reach through Parts 1 and 2 of the examination or an acceptable alternative.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Open a physiciansapply.ca account and request source verification of your medical degree
The Council's own page, read on 2026-10-25 but held as a draft because the monitor cannot fetch it, says the examination is a one-day computer-based examination delivered at Prometric test centres in Canada and over seventy countries, in four sessions a year, with seats taken first come, first served. Which countries have a centre is the Council's and Prometric's list, not ours.
Delivered or received by: Medical Council of Canada, through Prometric
Read from R-1 Main Residency Match eligibility criteria (Canadian Resident Matching Service) on October 25, 2026.
What waits until you are in Canada
A step is here because the regulator says it is done in Canada, needs status in Canada first, or has not said it can be begun from abroad. Where a step below is tagged as something the regulator has to confirm, it may turn out to be startable earlier; the regulator is the one to ask, and the question is worth asking before you leave.
Steps that apply to everyone on this route
CaRMS requires an international medical graduate in the R-1 match to have passed the National Assessment Collaboration Examination, with some provinces allowing exceptions. The Council describes it as a national examination of readiness to enter a Canadian residency programme, held twice a year in spring and fall.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Open a physiciansapply.ca account and request source verification of your medical degree
The Council's eligibility page, read on 2026-10-25 and held as a draft because the monitor cannot fetch it, says the examination is held at a limited number of examination centres across Canada. It names no centre outside Canada, so this step waits for a trip to Canada or for arrival. Entering Canada to sit it is an immigration question that belongs to the immigration side of your plan.
Delivered or received by: Medical Council of Canada
Read from R-1 Main Residency Match eligibility criteria (Canadian Resident Matching Service) on October 25, 2026.
CaRMS requires an applicant to the R-1 match to be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, with some exceptions, and the College's own general requirements for the Independent Practice certificate include Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status. This is the bodies' own requirement about status; it is not an immigration decision, and nothing on these pages decides whether a person will get that status.
Applies to everyone on this route
The proof is uploaded, but the status itself has to exist: an application cannot be made on the strength of an intention to apply for permanent residence. Which exceptions CaRMS and the Ontario programmes allow is on CaRMS's Ontario page, which this did not read.
Delivered or received by: Canadian Resident Matching Service
Read from R-1 Main Residency Match eligibility criteria (Canadian Resident Matching Service) on October 25, 2026.
The College says entry to an Ontario residency is through CaRMS, subject to CaRMS's eligibility requirements for Ontario. CaRMS says individual provinces and residency programmes add requirements and restrictions of their own, so the Ontario criteria on CaRMS's own provincial page govern who may apply to which programme. Being matched is the programme's decision.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Pass the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE, formerly Part I), Pass the NAC Examination, Hold Canadian citizenship or permanent residence before the match
The application is made online, but the match requires citizenship or permanent residence, so for most applicants it follows status rather than preceding it.
Delivered or received by: Canadian Resident Matching Service
Read from R-1 Main Residency Match fees (Canadian Resident Matching Service) on October 25, 2026.
Postgraduate medical training at an Ontario medical school needs the College's postgraduate education certificate, which the College renews annually. Its requirements include an acceptable medical degree, an appointment in training at an Ontario medical school and, for an international graduate, a pass on the Evaluating Examination or Part 1 of the MCCQE. The holder may practise only as the programme requires, only in its settings, and may not charge fees.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Apply to Ontario family medicine programmes through the R-1 Main Residency Match
The application is made in the College's own portal, not through physiciansapply.ca, which the College says it does not use. It follows a match and an appointment in training, so in practice it is made from Canada or just before arriving to start.
Delivered or received by: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Read from Fee schedule (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
The residency itself, under the postgraduate education certificate. Job Bank gives the national requirement as two to three years of family medicine residency training. What the programme requires of a resident is the programme's, and the College's certificate permits practice only as the programme requires.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Apply to the College for a postgraduate education certificate and pay its application fee
Training in an Ontario programme is done in Ontario.
Delivered or received by: An Ontario medical school's family medicine programme
Read from Registration requirements (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
The College requires certification by examination by the Royal College or the College of Family Physicians of Canada for the Independent Practice certificate. The CFPC's examination is open to its members who completed an approved family medicine residency or a combination of training and practice experience under its eligibility guidelines.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Complete the family medicine residency
The CFPC's page read for this does not say where the examination is sat; ask the CFPC.
Delivered or received by: College of Family Physicians of Canada
Read from Certification Examination in Family Medicine (College of Family Physicians of Canada) on October 25, 2026.
The certificate that authorizes independent, unsupervised practice in Ontario. The College's general requirements are an acceptable medical degree, Parts 1 and 2 of the MCCQE or an acceptable alternative examination, certification by examination by the Royal College or the CFPC, one year of postgraduate training or active practice in Canada (or a full clinical clerkship at an accredited Canadian school), and Canadian citizenship or permanent residence. Once issued, the person's name is on the College's Physician Register, which is where an employer will look.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Pass the Certification Examination in Family Medicine
The application is made in the College's portal, which can be reached from anywhere, but the requirements it checks include a year of training or practice in Canada and Canadian status.
Delivered or received by: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Read from Fee schedule (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
Steps that depend on the regulator’s assessment of you
The College says it assesses every application and credential itself, in-house, and that its schedule of requirements can have requirements added or removed throughout the process. Whether a medical school is acceptable, whether an alternative examination is acceptable, and whether any of the exemptions in its registration policies applies to you are its decisions about you. Where it identifies an issue it forwards the application to its registration committee.
Depends on the regulator’s assessment of you
After: Apply to the College for the Independent Practice certificate and pay the application fee
Nothing about this step is done by the applicant; it is the College's own work on the file.
Delivered or received by: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Read from Apply for registration (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
Records the regulator needs, which can be requested before you leave. This is not the document list for an immigration application: that list goes to IRCC, and this one goes to the regulator. Where a record has to come straight from the institution that issued it, asking early matters most, because nobody else can send it for you.
The College says documents such as medical school records have to come to it directly from the organization that holds them, and it assesses credentials itself rather than through physiciansapply.ca. The Medical Council of Canada's examinations, which the match requires, are applied for through a physiciansapply.ca account and need the medical degree source-verified first, which also means the school confirming it to the Council. These are the records to ask for while you can still reach the people who hold them.
Sent by the institutionThe request can be made from anywhere; the sending has to be done by the institution.
Job Bank says the first step for a physician trained abroad is to contact the Medical Council of Canada. The Council's portal is physiciansapply.ca; the account is what gives access to source verification of credentials and to the examination applications, and the Council's page says an international graduate can apply for the MCCQE as soon as the source verification request for the medical degree has been submitted and paid for. The Council's own pages could not be read by the monitor and are held as drafts here, so confirm each detail on them before relying on it.
Sent by youThe account is opened and the request made online from anywhere. The British Columbia College estimates the Council's source verification at two to three months; the Ontario College publishes no estimate for it.
There is no total here, and no overall time to licensure. Regulators publish their own fees and their own processing times for their own steps; none of them publishes a total for the route, and a total we added up ourselves would be read as theirs. Each figure below is either the body’s own published number with the date it published it, or the reason there is no number. Add them up yourself if you need a budget, and treat the result as yours.
An internationally trained family physician who already practised independently abroad: Touchstone Institute, which runs the programme for the College, asks for at least 48 months of combined training and practice as a family physician or general practitioner and at least 960 hours of family medicine practice in the past three years, Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, English proficiency and the LMCC.
When you may do the work or use the titleWhen the College has issued a certificate of registration and the person's name is on its Physician Register. The provisional certificate for the twelve-week assessment permits practice only within the programme, under supervision and not as the most responsible physician; the provisional certificate for the return of service is limited to the person's scope and to the community their agreement names, and expires three years after issue. Independent, unsupervised practice begins only with the Independent Practice certificate, after the return of service and CFPC certification.
What the regulator decides about you individuallyWhether an applicant is eligible, and whether they are selected, is Touchstone's and the programme's decision about them; which community the return of service is in is the Ministry of Health's; and whether the person is otherwise qualified for an independent practice certificate at the end is the College's. The College's policy says a successful candidate may be issued each certificate, not that they will be.
What you can do before you arrive
Steps that apply to everyone on this route
Touchstone reviews an application for immigration status, medical degree and transcripts, English language proficiency, examinations, postgraduate training and independent practice experience in family medicine, required clinical rotations and currency of hours. The College says documents such as medical school records have to come to it directly from the organization that holds them. These are the records to ask for while you can still reach the people who hold them.
Applies to everyone on this route
The request can be made from anywhere; the sending has to be done by the institution.
Delivered or received by: Your medical school, training institutions and employers
Read from Apply for registration (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
Job Bank says the first step for a physician trained abroad is to contact the Medical Council of Canada. The Council's portal is physiciansapply.ca; the account gives access to source verification and to the examination applications, and the Council's page says an international graduate can apply for the MCCQE as soon as the source verification request for the medical degree has been submitted and paid for. The Council's own pages could not be read by the monitor and are held as drafts here, so confirm each detail on them before relying on it.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Ask your medical school, your training hospitals and your employers for the records Touchstone and the College will need
The account is opened and the request made online from anywhere. The British Columbia College estimates the Council's source verification at two to three months.
Delivered or received by: Medical Council of Canada
Read from Job requirements: family physicians in Canada (Job Bank, Employment and Social Development Canada) on October 25, 2026.
Touchstone requires an applicant to be a Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada, or to have completed its requirements and be awaiting certification. The Council grants the LMCC to a physician with a pass on the MCCQE and a source-verified degree, and its page, read on 2026-10-25, says a physician who applied for the MCCQE after 26 January 2026 receives the LMCC automatically.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Open a physiciansapply.ca account and request source verification of your medical degree
The Council's own page, held as a draft because the monitor cannot fetch it, says the examination is delivered at Prometric test centres in Canada and over seventy countries, in four sessions a year. Which countries have a centre is the Council's and Prometric's list.
Delivered or received by: Medical Council of Canada, through Prometric
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
Touchstone requires an applicant to demonstrate English language proficiency, and reviews it as part of the application. Which tests it accepts and at what scores are on its applicant requirements page, which this did not read.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Ask your medical school, your training hospitals and your employers for the records Touchstone and the College will need
The accepted tests are offered in many countries, but which evidence Touchstone accepts, and whether any waiver applies to you, is Touchstone's to confirm.
Delivered or received by: Touchstone Institute
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
Touchstone requires at least 48 months of combined training and practice experience as a family physician or general practitioner and at least 960 hours of practice in family medicine in the past three years, of which its checklist says 720 were in person. The evidence is the training letters and practice records the earlier step asked for.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Ask your medical school, your training hospitals and your employers for the records Touchstone and the College will need
The evidence is submitted with the application from anywhere; what counts as practice is Touchstone's reading of it.
Delivered or received by: Touchstone Institute
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
What waits until you are in Canada
A step is here because the regulator says it is done in Canada, needs status in Canada first, or has not said it can be begun from abroad. Where a step below is tagged as something the regulator has to confirm, it may turn out to be startable earlier; the regulator is the one to ask, and the question is worth asking before you leave.
Steps that apply to everyone on this route
Touchstone's checklist asks for a pass on the NAC Examination from March 2013 or later, or on the MCCQE Part 2 before 2021. The Council describes the NAC Examination as a national examination of readiness to enter a Canadian residency programme, held twice a year at a limited number of centres across Canada.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Open a physiciansapply.ca account and request source verification of your medical degree
The Council's eligibility page names centres in Canada only, so this step waits for a trip to Canada or for arrival. Entering Canada to sit it is an immigration question that belongs to the immigration side of your plan.
Delivered or received by: Medical Council of Canada
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
Touchstone requires an applicant to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and the College's general requirements for the Independent Practice certificate include the same. This is the bodies' own requirement about status; it is not an immigration decision, and nothing on these pages decides whether a person will get that status.
Applies to everyone on this route
The proof is uploaded, but the status itself has to exist before an application can be made.
Delivered or received by: Touchstone Institute
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
Touchstone says an eligible candidate submits the required documents, completes the Therapeutics Decision-Making Examination, attends an interview and applies for a provisional certificate through the College. The College's policy says the same: Touchstone screens and selects, and a candidate has to pass the TDM examination and be assessed through an interview to be selected.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Pass the MCCQE and hold the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada, Pass the NAC Examination, unless you hold a pre-2021 MCCQE Part 2, Demonstrate English language proficiency, Hold Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, Show at least 48 months of training and practice as a family physician and 960 hours in the past three years
The application is made online. Where the Therapeutics Decision-Making Examination is sat, and where the interview is held, was not on the pages read, so ask Touchstone before planning travel.
Delivered or received by: Touchstone Institute
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
A candidate accepted by Touchstone applies to the College through its own portal for a provisional certificate for the twelve-week assessment. The College's policy says it may issue the certificate subject to terms, conditions and limitations: practice only within the programme, under a designated member's supervision, not as the most responsible physician and without charging fees, and the certificate expires at the end of the twelve weeks or when the person leaves the programme.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Touchstone decides whether you are selected
The application is made in the College's portal. The assessment it leads to is in Ontario, and the programme requires Canadian status, so in practice this is made from Canada.
Delivered or received by: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Read from Fee schedule (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
The assessment itself: twelve weeks of supervised practice during which clinical competence is assessed, at a site the programme assigns, under a provisional certificate. Before it starts, Touchstone says, the candidate signs a three-year return of service agreement with the Ontario ministry of health.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Apply to the College for the provisional certificate and pay the application fee
The assessment is done in Ontario, at a site the programme assigns rather than one the candidate chooses.
Delivered or received by: Touchstone Institute, with a supervising member of the College
Read from Practice Ready Assessment Program (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
After the assessment the College may issue a provisional certificate limited to the person's scope of practice, to fulfil the return of service: family medicine only, as the agreement allows, under supervision, in the community the agreement specifies. The certificate expires three years after it is issued. A candidate who obtains CFPC certification during this period may apply to have the supervision requirement removed while completing the return of service.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Complete the twelve-week Clinical Field Assessment in Ontario
The return of service is in a community in Ontario identified by the Ministry of Health; Touchstone says the programme provides options in eligible communities.
Delivered or received by: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, with the Ministry of Health
Read from Practice Ready Assessment Program (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
The College's policy requires CFPC certification before an independent practice certificate. The CFPC's examination is open to its members who completed an approved family medicine residency or a combination of training and practice experience under its eligibility guidelines; a physician on this route is the second kind, which the CFPC prices as practice eligible.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Complete the twelve-week Clinical Field Assessment in Ontario
The CFPC's page read for this does not say where the examination is sat; ask the CFPC. Whether a particular physician's training and practice meet its eligibility guidelines is the CFPC's decision.
Delivered or received by: College of Family Physicians of Canada
Read from Certification Examination in Family Medicine (College of Family Physicians of Canada) on October 25, 2026.
The College's policy says that on completing the return of service and obtaining CFPC certification, a person otherwise qualified for an independent practice certificate who satisfies the non-exemptible requirements of section 2(1) of Ontario Regulation 865/93 may apply for one. Once issued, the person's name is on the College's Physician Register, which is where an employer will look.
Applies to everyone on this route
After: Practise under a provisional certificate for the three-year return of service, Obtain certification from the College of Family Physicians of Canada
The application is made in the College's portal; by this point the person is practising in Ontario.
Delivered or received by: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Read from Practice Ready Assessment Program (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) on October 25, 2026.
Steps that depend on the regulator’s assessment of you
Touchstone says meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee selection, and the College's policy says Touchstone is responsible for screening and selection. The number of places and which candidates fill them are the programme's decisions about the people who applied.
Depends on the regulator’s assessment of you
After: Apply to Practice Ready Ontario, sit the Therapeutics Decision-Making Examination and attend an interview
Nothing about this step is done by the applicant.
Delivered or received by: Touchstone Institute
Read from Practice Ready Ontario (Touchstone Institute) on October 25, 2026.
Records the regulator needs, which can be requested before you leave. This is not the document list for an immigration application: that list goes to IRCC, and this one goes to the regulator. Where a record has to come straight from the institution that issued it, asking early matters most, because nobody else can send it for you.
Touchstone reviews an application for immigration status, medical degree and transcripts, English language proficiency, examinations, postgraduate training and independent practice experience in family medicine, required clinical rotations and currency of hours. The College says documents such as medical school records have to come to it directly from the organization that holds them. These are the records to ask for while you can still reach the people who hold them.
Sent by the institutionThe request can be made from anywhere; the sending has to be done by the institution.
Job Bank says the first step for a physician trained abroad is to contact the Medical Council of Canada. The Council's portal is physiciansapply.ca; the account gives access to source verification and to the examination applications, and the Council's page says an international graduate can apply for the MCCQE as soon as the source verification request for the medical degree has been submitted and paid for. The Council's own pages could not be read by the monitor and are held as drafts here, so confirm each detail on them before relying on it.
Sent by youThe account is opened and the request made online from anywhere. The British Columbia College estimates the Council's source verification at two to three months.
Touchstone requires at least 48 months of combined training and practice experience as a family physician or general practitioner and at least 960 hours of practice in family medicine in the past three years, of which its checklist says 720 were in person. The evidence is the training letters and practice records the earlier step asked for.
Sent by youThe evidence is submitted with the application from anywhere; what counts as practice is Touchstone's reading of it.
There is no total here, and no overall time to licensure. Regulators publish their own fees and their own processing times for their own steps; none of them publishes a total for the route, and a total we added up ourselves would be read as theirs. Each figure below is either the body’s own published number with the date it published it, or the reason there is no number. Add them up yourself if you need a budget, and treat the result as yours.
You can ask us to research this occupation and province. Somebody here reads it and writes back what they find, or that we could not verify it: the answer appears with your request on this page when you are signed in, and we email it to you as well. Nothing is added to these pages until a lawyer has published it. Where your professional history is unusual enough that no published route fits it, ask for a specialist to look at it instead.
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