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Halifax - Family Medicine - Palliative Care

Dalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova ScotiaCompetitive stream

Enhanced skills (FM/ES) match

Family medicine residents applying for a PGY-3 year (the "+1").

Contacts and 1 more link
Open on carms.ca(opens in a new tab)

CaRMS program description, FM/ES 2027 match, last approved 27 Jul 2026

Positions (approx. quota)
2 positions
Length
1 year
Stream
Competitive
Discipline
Family Medicine - Palliative Care
Applications per year
0–50
Applicants offered interviews
76–100%
Accreditation
Accredited
CaRMS program ID
34660

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

Summary

  • This one-year enhanced skills program in palliative care leads to eligibility for the CFPC Certificate of Added Competence in Palliative Care.
  • Training is based at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, with at least 8 weeks at a distributed site, usually in New Brunswick.
  • Call is taken from home on weeknights.

Training

Setting
  • Academic / tertiary hospital
  • Regional community
Sites

2 teaching sites

  • QEII Health Sciences Centre
  • IWK Health Centre
Rural exposure
Not stated on CaRMS page
Research
Required · scholarly or quality-improvement project
Call
Home call
Getting around
  • A car is recommended
  • Travel is reimbursed
Highlights
  • Required 2-4 week rotation in Palliative and Therapeutic Harmonization (PATH), a geriatrics service.
  • Required 8-week community palliative care placement at a distributed site, usually in New Brunswick.

By year

Not stated on CaRMS page

Other rotations

Listed by the program without a single year.

  • Palliative Care (22-24 weeks)
  • Palliative Care - Community (8 weeks · Palliative care at a distributed site (usually New Brunswick))
  • Pediatrics (2 weeks · IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS.)
  • Palliative and Therapeutic Harmonization (Geriatrics) (2-4 weeks · QEII Health Sciences Centre)
  • Oncology (4 weeks · QEII Health Sciences Centre)
  • Electives (12 weeks · Location to be determined.)

Selection

Application file components
  • CV
  • Electives
  • Examinations
  • Extra-curricular
  • Leadership skills
  • MSPRs
  • Personal letters
  • Reference documents
  • Research/Publications
  • Transcripts
Return of service
Not stated on CaRMS page
Applications per year
0–50
Applicants offered interviews
76–100%

Interviews

Dates (FM/ES 2027 match)
19 and 20 Oct 2026
Mode
Virtual
Format
  • Panel

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
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-3
$89,462 / 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 PGY-3, the level FM/ES residents usually start at. Yours depends on your training so far.

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

  • QEII Health Sciences Centre (Halifax)
  • IWK Health Centre (Halifax)

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.

QEII Health Sciences Centre

This name covers 2 hospitals in the province’s lists. Each is shown on its own, A to Z, and the numbers are never added together.

QEII - Halifax Infirmary Site (Halifax)
Hospital type
Tertiary As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.
QEII - Victoria General (VG) Site (Halifax)
Hospital type
Tertiary As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.

IWK Health Centre

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

Hospital type
Tertiary 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.

Contacts

Grouped by the titles CaRMS lists. The program office (administrators and coordinators) usually answers questions about the program and applying; the director leads the training.

Program officeadministrators and coordinators

fmes@dal.ca

Lynsey Alcock · Enhanced Skills Program Administrator

902-473-4749

Program director

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

More links

Links the program published on CaRMS

Location

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Loading amenities…

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
−4.1 °C Shearwater, 11.0 km away
July average
18.5 °C Shearwater, 11.0 km away
Snowfall
215.2 cm a year Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 20.9 km away
Days below −20 °C
0.9 days a year Shearwater, 11.0 km away

People

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

Population
439,819 people up 9.1% from 2016
Official languages
English only 87.1% · French only 0.1% · English and French 12.2% · neither 0.6% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants
11.6% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 4.1% · non-permanent residents: 3.9%
Indigenous identity
3.8% of residents
How people commute
car, truck or van 81.5% · public transit 8.1% · walking or cycling 8.0% · other 2.4% Average commute: 21.4 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
$81,000 before tax $69,500 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
Halifax, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 348,634 people in 2021
Remoteness index
0.199 0 is least remote, 1 is most remote. Statistics Canada calls this index experimental.

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
2.6% October 2025 survey, Halifax, Nova Scotia (census metropolitan area). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living
$54,855 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Halifax, 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.
Unemployment rate
5.8% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Halifax, Nova Scotia (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.5 points. A survey estimate.

Sources and licences

  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Adapted from Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Cartographic Boundary Files.
  • Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey, October 2025 (vacancy rates), and Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0130-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation or Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020).
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Index of Remoteness (17-26-0001), 2021. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0459-01 Labour force characteristics by census metropolitan area, three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted, reference month 2026-09. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0066-01 Market Basket Measure (MBM) thresholds for the reference family by Market Basket Measure region, component and base year, 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0011-01 Population and dwelling counts: Canada and population centres, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0002-01 Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0057-01 Household income statistics by household type: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0173-01 Mother tongue by knowledge of official languages: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0266-01 Indigenous identity by Registered or Treaty Indian status: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0307-01 Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0458-01 Main mode of commuting by commuting duration, time leaving for work, age and gender: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

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 residency.fyi 8 Oct 2026.