Enhanced skills outside the CaRMS match
Family medicine training that schools fill themselves, not through CaRMS’s FM/ES match: Category 2 programs (school-set objectives, no CFPC Certificate of Added Competence), clinician scholar programs, Quebec’s programmes de compétences avancées, and seats for practising family physicians. 82 offerings at 17 of 18 departments, from each school’s own pages, checked 10 Oct 2026. Confirm on the school’s page before you apply.
Not part of the CaRMS match
- You apply to the school, on its own dates. Most 2027–28 deadlines were in September 2026; Quebec’s run later, to December and February.
- Offers can come before CaRMS’s rank-list deadline. At Western (opens in a new tab), accepting a Category 2 offer before the rank-list deadline means withdrawing from the CaRMS match.
- Funding differs by school and by applicant: provincially funded PGY-3 seats, re-entry funding for practising physicians, return of service, or self-funding. Each row gives what the school or province says.
| Program | Length | Positions | Who can apply | Funding and obligations | Applications, 2027–28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 programs (Family Practice Anesthesia, Care of the Elderly, Emergency Medicine, Palliative Care): practising-physician / re-entry routeQueen's University · ONPractising physicians | COE: 12 months at Queen's per ES page; separate Dept of Medicine page mentions 6- or 12-month COE (unclear on the school’s page) | COE: one resident per academic year (occasionally more) | Practising physicians in Canada meeting Ministry funding eligibility (Ontario re-entry); certified family physicians already in practice and international applicants welcome (COE) | Queen's ES programs share 16 provincially funded positions (Ministry); per-program split not stated; no dollar amount | No dates published |
| Palliative Medicine - re-entry positions (Category 1 program, non-CaRMS entry)University of Ottawa · ONPractising physicians | 12 months (13 blocks) | 3-4 total in table ('varies' funding); number of re-entry positions unknown until after interviews (unclear on the school’s page) | Re-entry candidates (practising physicians) with FM residency and Ontario educational or independent practice licence; direct entry from PGY2 must use CaRMS | Program 'may have funding' for re-entry positions; no return-of-service requirement for these positions; no dollar amount | No single close date stated |
| Care of the Elderly - re-entry candidates (Category 1 program, non-CaRMS entry)University of Ottawa · ONPractising physicians | 12 months | 1-2 (table) | Certified in Family Medicine, in final year of residency or already in practice | Not stated on the school’s page | No dates published |