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Halifax - Neurosurgery

Dalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova ScotiaCMG stream

At a glance

Approx. quota
1 position
Length
6 years
Applications per year
0–50
Offered interviews
76–100%

CMG stream · open to Canadian medical graduates

Interviews

1 date, 22 Jan 2027Traditional (one on one/two on one); MMI or rotating station

Halifax, 5 teaching sites

Program website(opens in a new tab)Instagram(opens in a new tab)CANPREPP profile(opens in a new tab)CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab)

What stands out about this program

  • Required three-month community neurosurgery rotation at another Atlantic Canadian neurosurgical unit.

    From “Program highlights” on the CaRMS page

  • Resident-to-faculty ratio of one to one.

    From “Program highlights” on the CaRMS page

  • Dalhousie Neurosurgery is a 6-year program based in Halifax, with adult care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre and pediatric care at the IWK Health Centre.
  • Core years include a 3-block community neurosurgery rotation in Saint John, Moncton or St. John's, plus 3 blocks of neuropathology.
  • Most residents complete a research year, typically in PGY-4.

The summary is written by CdnMD from the program’s CaRMS description.

What training looks like

Setting
  • Academic / tertiary hospital
  • Regional community
Rural exposure
Not stated on CaRMS page
Research
Offered · research project · protected time

By year

PGY-1
  • Neurosurgical Servicesix blocks
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Anesthesia
  • Vascular Surgery
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Otolaryngology
  • Radiation Oncology
PGY-2
  • Neurosurgery7 blocks
  • Critical Care2 blocks
  • Neuroradiology2 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery1 block
  • Neurology1 block

Other rotations

Listed by the program without a single PGY year.

  • community neurosurgery (PGY-3 to 6 (Core of Discipline) · 3 block · Saint John and Moncton, NB; St. John's, NL.)
  • neuropathology (PGY-3 to 6 (Core of Discipline) · 3 blocks)
  • academic enrichment (PGY-3 to 6 (Core of Discipline) · One year)

✓ = the CaRMS page states it; – = not stated. From the program description and its rotation list.

Where you train

Halifax, Nova Scotia: 5 teaching sites.

  • Halifax Infirmary, QE II Health Sciences Centre
  • IWK Health Centre
  • Saint John Regional Hospital (Saint John · rural or distributed site)
  • The Moncton Hospital (Moncton · rural or distributed site)
  • Health Sciences Centre - Eastern Health (St. John's · rural or distributed site)

Record systems at the listed sites: CorCare at 1 of 5, Oracle Health (Cerner) at 2; no published record for 2.

Hospital facts

5 sites · public figures and clinical record systems where they are published

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

How to read the figures

  • Hospital type. As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.
  • Inpatient beds. As listed in the province’s dataset, whose rows were last updated 24 Apr 2019; the count may be older.

Halifax Infirmary, QE II Health Sciences Centre

Clinical record
One Person One Record, fully electronic record since May 2026 As of 31 Oct 2026

Matched to QEII - Halifax Infirmary Site (Halifax) in the province’s hospital list.

Hospital type
Tertiary

IWK Health Centre

Clinical record
Oracle Health (One Person One Record), fully electronic record since Dec 2025 As of 31 Oct 2026

Matched to IWK Health Centre (Halifax) in the province’s hospital list.

Hospital type
Tertiary

Saint John Regional Hospital

Matched to Saint John Regional Hospital / Hôpital Régional de Saint John (Saint John) in the province’s hospital list.

Inpatient beds
445
Show facts for 2 more sites

The Moncton Hospital

Matched to The Moncton Hospital / L’Hôpital de Moncton (Moncton) in the province’s hospital list.

Inpatient beds
381

Health Sciences Centre - Eastern Health

Clinical record
CorCare, fully electronic record since Apr 2026 As of 31 Oct 2026

Nova Scotia's One Person One Record is live at IWK Health and at Nova Scotia Health's Central Zone. The other zones follow, provincewide by the end of 2026 (the province's date). As of 31 Oct 2026

Verify with the official source: each source button opens the publisher’s own page.

Sources and licences

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

About Halifax

  • People

    439,819residents, 2021 Census

    Municipality of Halifax

  • Housing

    2.6%rental vacancy rate

    October 2025 survey, Halifax, Nova Scotia (census metropolitan area)

  • Winter and summer

    −4.1 °CJanuary mean18.5 °CJuly mean

    1991–2020 normals, Shearwater, 11.0 km away

  • Job outlook

    Very goodfor the specialty here, 2025–2027

More about Halifax (its page: housing, getting around, weather, things to do, and every program that names it)

Sites as the program’s CaRMS page lists them. City figures are public statistics for the place named by the location; they describe the place, not the program.

How they choose

Application file components
  • CV
  • Electives
  • Examinations
  • Extra-curricular
  • Leadership skills
  • MSPRs
  • Personal letters
  • Reference documents
  • Research/Publications
  • Transcripts
  • Other file component(s)
Return of service
Not stated on CaRMS page. Check the provincial return-of-service rules.

Application file components as the program describes them.

Interviews and info sessions

Interview dates (2027 match)
22 Jan 2027
Format
  • Traditional (one on one/two on one)
  • MMI or rotating station

Info sessions

None listed on the program’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab) (read 20 Oct 2026) or on CANPREPP’s events calendar (read 24 Oct 2026). Programs add sessions through the fall.

4 Neurosurgery info sessions at other programsAll info sessions

Pay and call

Provincial scale, last updated 24 Jul 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab). 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 6 levels this program covers.

Annual salary by PGY level, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-1
$78,578 / year
PGY-2
$83,904 / year
PGY-3
$89,462 / year
PGY-4
$95,485 / year
PGY-5
$101,926 / year
PGY-6
$108,066 / year

How provincial pay and rent compare

Call

Call (as the program states it)
In-house and home call · frequency “maximum 1 in 4”
Call (provincial max)
1 night in 4 in-house
Post-call rule (provincial)
No work required once handover is completed
Max continuous duty (provincial)
Handover begins by the 24th consecutive hour on duty

The union agreement’s limits and rules for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. MarDocs agreement, 1 Jul 2024 to 30 Jun 2027. Read as of 1 Oct 2026.

Benefits

13 lines as listed by CaRMS in 2022–2024: Annual vacation, Call stipend, CMPA dues paid, and more
Annual vacation
4 weeks
Call stipend
Yes
CMPA dues paid
Yes
Dental coverage
Yes
Educational leave
Yes
Extended health insurance
Yes
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

Past matches

No repeated vacancies in CaRMS’s lists of open positions, 2019–2026.

Positions at this site, all streams.

What this means

  • 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 or how heavy the workload is.
  • 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.

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)).

Year by year

2027 match

The 2027 match, one row per stream (scrolls sideways on narrow screens)
StreamPositionsLengthInterviewsWhat changed
CMG stream16 years1 date, 22 Jan 2027Traditional (one on one/two on one); MMI or rotating stationNothing noted

2026 match

The 2026 match, one row per stream (scrolls sideways on narrow screens)
StreamPositionsLengthInterviews
CMG stream16 years2 dates, 9 Jan – 6 Feb 2026
The 2026 page of the CMG stream: our summary of its CaRMS description
  • The Dalhousie University Neurosurgery Residency Program is a comprehensive 6-year training program focused on developing skilled neurosurgeons with strong clinical and research experience.
  • The program offers progressive responsibility, exposure to a wide variety of neurosurgical cases, and opportunities for academic enrichment and research.
Research
Ample opportunities for clinical and basic science research, support for postgraduate degrees, and Clinician Investigators Program.
Training setting
Training is centered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with primary sites at Halifax Infirmary (QE II Health Sciences Centre) and IWK Health Centre. Residents also complete rotations in affiliated neurosurgical units in Saint John, Moncton, and St. John's.
Teaching approach
Progressive responsibility with an emphasis on competency-based medical education, multidisciplinary learning, and developing comprehensive neurosurgical skills across adult and pediatric settings.
Enhanced skills
Not stated on CaRMS page
What the program looked at
  • CV
  • Electives
  • Examinations
  • Extra-curricular activities
  • Leadership skills
  • Medical Student Performance Record (MSPR)
  • Personal letter
  • Reference documents
  • Research/Publications
  • Transcripts

Positions, length and interviews as each match’s CaRMS pages stated them; what changed from our comparison of the two matches and our readings of the 2027 pages.

Contacts and links

Program director
Program office

Residency Training Program Administrator

Email on the CaRMS page(opens in a new tab)

Per CaRMS. Staff change during the cycle, so check the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab) before emailing.

Program websiteWebsiteInstagramCANPREPPCANPREPPdescribes callFrom the programThis program on CaRMS(opens in a new tab)

Videos and podcasts

From the program

Public podcast episodes and videos where the program presents itself. The short descriptions are ours; each link goes to the original.

These are public recordings, reviewed by hand and linked here, not endorsed. They may be out of date. Confirm with the program.

All videos, podcasts and discussions →

Neurosurgery elsewhere

Nearest to Halifax

  • Montreal - NeurosurgeryMcGill University

    Montreal, QC · 790 km

    1 position · Regular

    Bilingual
  • Ottawa - NeurosurgeryUniversity of Ottawa

    Ottawa, ON · 955 km

    2 positions · CMG, IMG

  • Kingston - NeurosurgeryQueen’s University

    Kingston, ON · 1,025 km

    1 position · CMG

In these collections:

Source

The program’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab) · 2027 match · last approved 11 Sep 2026 · not final until file review opens 26 November; as of 19 Oct 2026, re-checked every two weeks.

Accredited · CaRMS program ID 36402 · How these pages are made › · See the 2026 match under Year by year

The Applications per year and Offered interviews figures are 5-year averages the program reports to CaRMS: past cycles, not your odds.

Independent. Not affiliated with CaRMS or the program. Programs edit their descriptions during the match; confirm on carms.ca (opens in a new tab) before you apply. Data last updated on CdnMD 24 Oct 2026.

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