Applying to Canadian Medical Schools

There are only 17 medical schools in Canada, and admission is extremely competitive: the admissions rate ranges from 2%-13%. Canadian schools highly favor applicants from their own province. Schools tend to prioritize test scores and grades.

The province of Ontario has the most medical schools (six) and has its own central application service (OMSAS). The application includes much less text than the U.S. application services, i.e., AMCAS or AACOMAS. The Canadian Application opens in July and the deadline is in October, with no rolling admission.

The province of Quebec requires fluency in French and the applications are in French, though the Faculty of Medicine courses at McGill University in Quebec, are taught in English.

There are two private medical schools in Canada – McGill in Montreal in the Province of Quebec and Memorial in the province of Newfoundland. They both accept a low number of non- Canadians.

The MCAT is required by most Canadian medical schools. Laval University, University of Montréal, and Northern Ontario School of Medicine do not require the MCAT. McMaster only uses the CARS score.

Canadian schools offer significantly fewer interviews than U.S. schools and most have only a handful of interview dates in the winter (typically published on their websites).

Unlike U.S. schools which seem to value advisor input or at least respond to calls or emails with questions or advocacy for a student, most Canadian schools have no interest in input from advisors. The exceptions are McGill and Memorial.

For general information on applying to Canadian medical schools, visit the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, which includes a section for prospective candidates, as well as the Admissions Requirements of the Canadian Faculties of Medicine Guide.

For more detailed information on admission requirements, please consult the admissions pages of their websites, the direct links to which are provided here: