Cape Breton - Family Medicine

Dalhousie UniversityCape Breton, Nova ScotiaNova Scotian IMG stream

Program websiteWebsite5 more links

Open on carms.ca

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 17 Nov 2025

From the 2026 match (R-1 2026). See the 2027 version

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 2 years
Stream: Nova Scotian IMG
Discipline: Family Medicine
Applications per year: 601+
Applicants offered interviews: 0–25%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 29308

Bands are 5-year averages the program reports to CaRMS. They describe past cycles, not your odds.

Summary

The Dalhousie Family Medicine Residency Program at Cape Breton offers a comprehensive two-year training experience focused on preparing family physicians for diverse practice settings. Located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the program emphasizes community-based learning, hands-on practical experience, and training across multiple clinical environments.

Training

Research

Residents are required to complete a scholarly project with protected research time and support for critical appraisal skills.

Training setting

Community-based training in Sydney, Cape Breton, utilizing multiple acute care facilities and rural clinics, with primary teaching at Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

Teaching approach

Competency-based medical education emphasizing hands-on learning, progressive independence, and exposure to diverse clinical settings through a preceptor-guided model.

Setting types

Community hospital
Rural clinics
Urban medical center
Regional referral center

Focus areas

Rural and Urban Family Medicine
Community-based Medical Training
Comprehensive Patient Care
Evidence-Based Medicine

Patient populations

Rural community patients
Urban hospital patients
Nursing home residents
Emergency department patients
Diverse age groups and medical complexity

Highlights

Preceptor model of medical training
Mandatory Family Medicine Resident Education Symposium (FMRES)
Multi-site training experiences
Academic half-day every two weeks
Dedicated study areas and computer access
24/7 access to hospital fitness room
Dedicated family medicine resident lounge

Strengths

Strong community integration
Comprehensive clinical exposure
High-complexity patient care environment
Supportive learning model
Emphasis on rural and urban medical practice

Enhanced skills

Emergency Medicine
Palliative Care
Care of the Elderly

By year

PGY-1

Core Family MedicineSydney, North Sydney, New Waterford, Glace Bay8 weeks
PediatricsSydney8 weeks
Emergency MedicineSydney4 weeks
Orientation in FMSydney4 weeks
General SurgerySydney4 weeks
Internal MedicineSydney4 weeks
HospitalistSydney4 weeks
FM OBSydney4 weeks
GynecologySydney4 weeks
OrthopaedicsSydney4 weeks
SelectiveCape Breton4 weeks
VacationScheduled at resident's request.4 weeks

PGY-2

Core Family MedicineSydney, North Sydney, New Waterford, Glace Bay16 weeks
Community Family MedicineBaddeck, Cheticamp, Arichat, Neil's Harbour12 weeks
Electives4 weeks Resident's choice, 4 weeks Maritime Provinces8 weeks
Residents University program can arrange up to of their elective time outside the Maritime Provinces. Other electives must be done in the Maritime Provinces. Residents can apply to do more than outside the Maritime Provinces for global health experiences.Dalhousie4 weeks
ICUSydney4 weeks
PsychiatrySydney4 weeks
Palliative CareSydney4 weeks
VacationScheduled at resident's request.4 weeks
GeriatricsSydney2 weeks

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

What the program looks at

CaRMS application
Personal letter
Reference letters
Multi-Mini Interview (MMI)
Academic performance
Clinical experience

Applications per year

601+

Applicants offered interviews

0–25%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match): 13 and 24 Nov 2025; 10 and 23 Jan 2026; 6 Feb 2026

Programs can change interview dates. Confirm on carms.ca.

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 24 Jul 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual salary by PGY level, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$78,578 / year
PGY-2	$83,904 / year

One provincial scale for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 2 levels this program covers.

Benefits

Benefits as listed by CaRMS in 2022–2024; check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual vacation: 4 weeks
Call stipend: Yes
CMPA dues paid: Yes
Dental coverage: Yes
Educational leave: Yes
Extended health insurance: Yes
Frequency of call: l in 4 in-hospital and for homecall
Life insurance: $100,000 of insurance
Long-term disabilityinsurance: 66.7% of salary
Maternity leave top up after one year’s service: eligible for up to a maximum of 17 weeks top-up allowance for maternity/pregnancy leave
Provincial dues (% of salary): 1.30%
Provincial health insurance: Yes
Sick leave: Yes
Statutory and floating holidays: paid

Call

Call (provincial max): 1 night in 4 in-house

The union agreement’s cap for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. Check with the program.

MarDocs agreement, 1 Jul 2024 to 30 Jun 2027.

Teaching sites

Cape Breton Regional Hospital
Sydney Community Hospitals

Hospital facts

Public figures for hospitals named above, each with its source and reference period. They describe the hospital, not the program, and are not a ranking. We match names to the province’s lists by name, so check each source before you rely on it.

Cape Breton Regional Hospital

Matched to Cape Breton Regional Hospital (Sydney) in the province’s hospital list.

Hospital type: Regional As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.

Sources and licences

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Nova Scotia.

Unfilled positions in past years

Open after round 1 in 3 of 8 years (2019–2026); still open after round 2 in 0 of 9 years.

Positions at this site, all streams. Site as CaRMS lists it: Cape Breton.

Positions at this site, all streams, still open after round 1 and after round 2, by year. Each count above zero links to the CaRMS list page it comes from.
Year	Open after round 1	Open after round 2
2018	not available	0
2019	0	0
2020	1 position open after round 1 in 2020, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2021	0	0
2022	0	0
2023	0	0
2024	3 positions open after round 1 in 2024, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2025	5 positions open after round 1 in 2025, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2026	0	0

CaRMS’s first-round list for 2018 was not found, so round 1 is counted over 8 years and round 2 over 9.

A position can go unfilled because of where the site is, because it is open to IMGs only or to another restricted stream, or because the quota changed late. It says nothing about the quality of the training. Verify with the CaRMS lists. Source: CaRMS’s lists of positions open after round 1 and after round 2, as read in October 2026 (latest: 2026 round 1 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab), 2026 round 2 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab)). A site’s numbers are shown when it had positions open after round 1 in at least 2 of 8 years or at least 3 in one year.

Contacts

Contacts weren't collected for the 2026 match.

The current program director and contacts are on the 2027 version of this program and on the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab).

Location

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

About the city

Public statistics for the place named by this program’s location label, each with its source and reference period. They describe the place, not the program, and are not a ranking. Check each source before you rely on it.

Climate

Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020. Each value comes from the nearest weather station that reports it, not from the city itself.

January average: −5.0 °C Sydney, 5.7 km away
July average: 18.2 °C Sydney, 5.7 km away
Snowfall: 281.1 cm a year Sydney, 5.7 km away
Days below −20 °C: 2.5 days a year Sydney, 5.7 km away

People

2021 Census. Figures are for the municipality of Cape Breton, not the metropolitan area. Statistics Canada rounds counts, so small places are approximate.

Population: 93,694 people down 0.6% from 2016
Official languages: English only 95.5% · French only 0.0% · English and French 4.3% · neither 0.1% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 2.3% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 0.4% · non-permanent residents: 2.5%
Indigenous identity: 3.2% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 91.9% · public transit 1.9% · walking or cycling 3.6% · other 2.6% Average commute: 17.7 minutes. Shares are of people who commute.The way Canadians commute was altered in 2021 by the pandemic, with lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19 and changes in how and where Canadians worked leading to 2.8 million fewer commuters, compared with five years earlier. Statistics Canada, The Daily, 30 Nov 2022(opens in a new tab)
Median household income: $62,400 before tax $55,600 after tax · income year 2020, in 2020 dollars

Rural and remote

This describes the place named by the program’s location label. Programs can train in several towns, so it is not every site.

Population centre: Glace Bay, a small population centre (1,000 to 29,999 people) 16,915 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.323 0 is least remote, 1 is most remote. Statistics Canada calls this index experimental.
Student loan forgiveness: Family medicine here may qualify for up to $60,000 of Canada Student Loan forgiveness. Eligibility depends on the postal code of where you work: check the official postal-code lookup. Postal-code lookup(opens in a new tab)

Housing, cost and work

Each figure names the area it covers. A missing line means the source publishes nothing for this area.

Rental vacancy rate: 2.7% October 2025 survey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (census agglomeration). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $51,062 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, for two adults with two children. A modest, basic basket (the poverty line), not a resident’s budget. A size-class region is not the town itself.

Job outlook

Employment and Social Development Canada’s rating for the occupation in the economic region. It is not a count of jobs, and says nothing about CaRMS positions or your match.

Outlook, 2025–2027: Very good The employment outlook will be Very good for general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Cape Breton region for the 2025-2027 period.
Canada-wide, to 2033: Strong risk of Shortage ESDC’s projection for general practitioners and family physicians, 2024–2033. Recent conditions, 2021–2023: Strong signs of Shortage.