Career establishment: licensing

The same occupation, place by place

Regulation is provincial. The same work can need a licence in one province, a certificate in the next, and nothing at all in a third, and the body, the route and the fees change with it. These are the differences, set out side by side.

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.

General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102)

Add ?province=Ontario&province=Alberta to the address to compare particular places. With none chosen, the comparison shows the places we have checked for this occupation.

Which occupation?

Search the 516 occupation groups of the National Occupational Classification.

Differences between Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon

The differences between the places you chose, set out side by side. Nothing here puts one province above another and nothing here is advice about where to go: which of these differences matters depends on your own qualifications, your family and your work, which only you can weigh. Where a cell says we have not checked, that is what it means, and not that there is nothing there.

General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon
Question	Alberta	British Columbia	Manitoba	New Brunswick	Newfoundland and Labrador	Northwest Territories	Nova Scotia	Nunavut	Ontario	Prince Edward Island	Quebec	Saskatchewan	Yukon
Is a licence or certification required by law to do this work?	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	Yes: Licence to practise medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	Yes: Certificate of registration, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this	We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this
Which body issues it?	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, College of Registered Nurses of Alberta, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, Apprenticeship and Industry Training	College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Apprenticeship Manitoba	College of Nursing of New Brunswick, College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick, Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Branch	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador College of Nurses, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador, Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division	College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Professional Licensing, Government of the Northwest Territories, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupations	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Nursing and Midwifery Regulator, Engineers Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency	College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Health Professions, Government of Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island, Prince Edward Island College of Nursing and Midwifery, Engineers PEI, Apprenticeship Section, Education and Lifelong Learning	Collège des médecins du Québec, Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, Centre administratif de la qualification professionnelle	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission	Yukon Medical Council, Yukon Registered Nurses Association, Engineers Yukon, Apprenticeship Training, Yukon Education
What is published that is not permission to work?	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published	None published
Which routes to it are published?	No route published here yet	Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in British Columbia, Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Assessment BC	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in Ontario, Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Ontario	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet	No route published here yet
How many published steps can be started before arrival?	No published steps to count	Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in British Columbia: 2 of 9; Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Assessment BC: 4 of 10	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in Ontario: 3 of 11; Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Ontario: 5 of 14	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count	No published steps to count
How much of the fee material has the body published?	No published steps to price	0 fees published by the body, 0 published as free, 14 to confirm with the body, 5 nobody publishes	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	3 fees published by the body, 0 published as free, 14 to confirm with the body, 8 nobody publishes	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price	No published steps to price
What have we checked here?	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Alberta's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College, and treat nothing on the Ontario or British Columbia pages as applying here.	Checked pathway. Covered: the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia's own pages on licensing, its classes for internationally trained physicians and its timelines and fees, with Practice Ready Assessment BC's programme, pre-screening and overview pages, CaRMS's eligibility criteria and fees and the College of Family Physicians of Canada's examination page, all read on 2026-10-25. The College's requirements for each licence class and its fee schedule (Schedule B of its bylaws) were not read, and every step says so where it matters.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Manitoba's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and New Brunswick's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Newfoundland and Labrador's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and in the Northwest Territories it is Professional Licensing in the Government of the Northwest Territories' Department of Health and Social Services, as the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada lists it. We have not read its requirements, so ask the department.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Nova Scotia's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and in Nunavut it is Health Professions in the Government of Nunavut's Department of Health, as the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada lists it. The territory's site refuses an automated read, so the address held is the one the Federation gives; ask the department.	Checked pathway. 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.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Prince Edward Island's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Quebec's is the Collège des médecins du Québec. Job Bank names the Collège's own qualifying examinations beside the Medical Council of Canada's, so Quebec's process differs from the rest of the country and nothing from the other routes carries over. Ask the Collège.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Saskatchewan's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.	Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Yukon's is the Yukon Medical Council, as the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada lists it. We have not read its requirements, so ask the Council.

Alberta in full·British Columbia in full·Manitoba in full·New Brunswick in full·Newfoundland and Labrador in full·Northwest Territories in full·Nova Scotia in full·Nunavut in full·Ontario in full·Prince Edward Island in full·Quebec in full·Saskatchewan in full·Yukon in full·All licensing pages

What this comparison is not

A list of differences, not a verdict about where to go

This is not a complete directory of regulated occupations in Canada. A pathway becomes public only when one of our lawyers publishes it, which they may do only where every mandatory requirement on it rests on an excerpt from the regulator’s own page: publishing records the lawyer’s name and the day, so there are occupations and provinces we simply have not reached. Where we have not, we say so and send you to the official lookup and to the regulator itself, which are the places that can answer for your case in any event.

General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon

Question

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador

Northwest Territories

Nova Scotia

Nunavut

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon

Is a licence or certification required by law to do this work?

We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this

Yes: Licence to practise medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia

We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this

Yes: Certificate of registration, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

We have not checked whether one is required here. We hold the body’s own address, and its page is the one that answers this

Which body issues it?

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, College of Registered Nurses of Alberta, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, Apprenticeship and Industry Training

College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, Apprenticeship Manitoba

College of Nursing of New Brunswick, College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick, Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Branch

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador College of Nurses, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador, Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division

College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Professional Licensing, Government of the Northwest Territories, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupations

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Nursing and Midwifery Regulator, Engineers Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency

College of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Health Professions, Government of Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island, Prince Edward Island College of Nursing and Midwifery, Engineers PEI, Apprenticeship Section, Education and Lifelong Learning

Collège des médecins du Québec, Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, Centre administratif de la qualification professionnelle

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission

Yukon Medical Council, Yukon Registered Nurses Association, Engineers Yukon, Apprenticeship Training, Yukon Education

What is published that is not permission to work?

None published

Which routes to it are published?

No route published here yet

Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in British Columbia, Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Assessment BC

No route published here yet

Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in Ontario, Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Ontario

No route published here yet

How many published steps can be started before arrival?

No published steps to count

Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in British Columbia: 2 of 9; Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Assessment BC: 4 of 10

No published steps to count

Family physician trained outside Canada, through a residency in Ontario: 3 of 11; Family physician trained outside Canada, through Practice Ready Ontario: 5 of 14

No published steps to count

How much of the fee material has the body published?

No published steps to price

0 fees published by the body, 0 published as free, 14 to confirm with the body, 5 nobody publishes

No published steps to price

3 fees published by the body, 0 published as free, 14 to confirm with the body, 8 nobody publishes

No published steps to price

What have we checked here?

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Alberta's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College, and treat nothing on the Ontario or British Columbia pages as applying here.

Checked pathway. Covered: the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia's own pages on licensing, its classes for internationally trained physicians and its timelines and fees, with Practice Ready Assessment BC's programme, pre-screening and overview pages, CaRMS's eligibility criteria and fees and the College of Family Physicians of Canada's examination page, all read on 2026-10-25. The College's requirements for each licence class and its fee schedule (Schedule B of its bylaws) were not read, and every step says so where it matters.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Manitoba's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and New Brunswick's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Newfoundland and Labrador's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and in the Northwest Territories it is Professional Licensing in the Government of the Northwest Territories' Department of Health and Social Services, as the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada lists it. We have not read its requirements, so ask the department.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Nova Scotia's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and in Nunavut it is Health Professions in the Government of Nunavut's Department of Health, as the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada lists it. The territory's site refuses an automated read, so the address held is the one the Federation gives; ask the department.

Checked pathway. 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.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Prince Edward Island's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Quebec's is the Collège des médecins du Québec. Job Bank names the Collège's own qualifying examinations beside the Medical Council of Canada's, so Quebec's process differs from the rest of the country and nothing from the other routes carries over. Ask the Collège.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Saskatchewan's is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. We have not read its requirements, so ask the College.

Regulator’s address only. Directory only: licensing by the provincial or territorial licensing authority is required everywhere in Canada, and Yukon's is the Yukon Medical Council, as the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada lists it. We have not read its requirements, so ask the Council.