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Rural Grimsby - Family Medicine

McMaster UniversityRural Grimsby, OntarioCMG stream

At a glance

Approx. quota
3 positions
Length
2 years
Applications per year
601+
Offered interviews
76–100%

CMG stream · open to Canadian medical graduates

Social

details info sessions of this program

Wed 18 Nov 2026,7:00–8:30 pm ESTvia CANPREPP source (opens in a new tab)

Interviews

4 dates, 16–26 Jan 2027virtual

Rural Grimsby, 2 teaching sites · based in a rural community

A car is required

After residency in Ontario: capitation model, entry capped

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

  • Community hospital where family physicians run anesthesia in the operating room and staff the emergency department.

    From “Training sites” on the CaRMS page

  • Local obstetrics teaching in Grimsby with obstetricians and a family physician focused on obstetrics.

    From “Training sites” on the CaRMS page

  • This two-year McMaster family medicine site is centred in Grimsby, with West Lincoln Memorial Hospital as its home hospital.
  • Core family medicine preceptors practise in Beamsville, Grimsby or Smithville, and specialty rotations take place in St. Catharines or Hamilton.
  • The second year includes 2 blocks of Rural Family Medicine, and residents must have access to a car.

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

Based on what the program says about itself.

  • You’re open to training at sites across a region, not at one hospital.
    Show the quote

    Core family medicine preceptors are located in the towns of either Beamsville, Grimsby, or Smithville, all within a 15 minute drive of the local hospital.

Not a ranking.

What training looks like

Setting
  • Rural / remote
  • Regional community
Rural exposure
Based in a rural community
Focus areas
  • Rural / remote
Getting around
  • A car is required

By year

PGY-1
  • Family Medicine4 blocks
  • Care of the Hospitalized Adult2 blocks
  • Emergency Medicine2 blocks
  • Women's Health and Obstetrics2 blocks
  • Care of Children2 blocks
  • Family Medicine/Academic Programming (Block 7)1 block
  • Continuity Family Medicine homebase clinics
PGY-2
  • Family Medicine4 blocks
  • Elective3 blocks
  • Rural Family Medicine2 blocks
  • Core Medicine/Surgery Selective (site-based options)2 blocks
  • Care of the Elderly1 block
  • Family Medicine/Academic Programming (Block 7)1 block
  • Continuity Family Medicine homebase clinics

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

Where you train

Rural Grimsby, Ontario: 2 teaching sites; based in a rural community. A car is required.

  • West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (Grimsby)
  • McMaster’s Niagara Regional Campus (St. Catharines)

Distributed across a region

Record systems at the listed sites: Epic at 1 of 2; no published record for 1.

Hospital facts

1 site · clinical record systems where an official source states them

What official sources say for hospitals named above, each with its source and the date we read it. They describe the hospital, not the program. We match names to the sources by name, so check each source before you rely on it.

West Lincoln Memorial Hospital

Clinical record
Epic, fully electronic record since Jun 2022 As of 31 Oct 2026

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

Hospital size and activity: Ontario doesn't publish this as open data.

About Grimsby

  • People

    28,883residents, 2021 Census

    Municipality of Grimsby

  • Housing

    3.5%rental vacancy rate

    October 2025 survey, Hamilton, Ontario (census metropolitan area)

  • Winter and summer

    −3.3 °CJanuary mean22.2 °CJuly mean

    1991–2020 normals, Vineland, 12.6 km away

  • Job outlook

    Very goodfor the specialty here, 2025–2027

More about Grimsby (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)
16, 18, 20 and 26 Jan 2027
Format
Virtual
  • MMI or rotating station

Info sessions

From the program’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab), read 20 Oct 2026; a row tagged CANPREPP is on CANPREPP’s events calendar (read 24 Oct 2026), alone or as well. Dates and times are as the program wrote them; “your time” is worked out in your browser when your time zone differs. Programs add and change sessions.

Pay and call

Provincial scale, last updated 6 Jan 2025 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab). Contract expired, may change. One provincial scale for Ontario, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 2 levels this program covers.

Annual salary by PGY level, Ontario
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-1
$73,367 / year
PGY-2
$79,670 / year

How provincial pay and rent compare

Call

Call (provincial max)
7 nights in 28 in-house
Post-call rule (provincial)
No new patient responsibilities after 24 hours in-hospital, except what clinical handover needs
Max continuous duty (provincial)
24 hours in-hospital, then relieved after handover (up to 2 hours)

The union agreement’s limits and rules for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. PARO agreement, 1 Jul 2023 to 30 Jun 2026. The term has ended; its terms continue until a new agreement is signed. Read as of 1 Oct 2026.

After residency

Family doctors in Ontario can join a model that pays for enrolled patients, hours worked and visits: the Family Health Organization (FHO), FHO+ since 1 April 2026. A new graduate is a physician who joins a patient enrolment model within three years of completing a family medicine residency; the status runs for 12 months from joining. Entry is capped: 40 physicians a month for FHO, 60 a month for FHO+ in the first year of the 2024-2028 agreement; later years to be determined. Compare provinces

Official pages read 31 Oct 2026.

Year by year

2027 match

The 2027 match, one row per stream (scrolls sideways on narrow screens)
StreamPositionsLengthInterviewsWhat changed
CMG stream32 years4 dates, 16–26 Jan 2027VirtualNothing noted

2026 match

The 2026 match, one row per stream (scrolls sideways on narrow screens)
StreamPositionsLengthInterviews
CMG stream32 years5 dates, 16 Dec 2025 – 27 Jan 2026
The 2026 page of the CMG stream: our summary of its CaRMS description
  • McMaster University's Family Medicine Rural Grimsby program offers comprehensive training in a picturesque rural setting.
  • Located in the heart of Niagara's wine country, this two-year residency prepares family physicians for diverse medical contexts with a strong emphasis on comprehensive, community-focused care.
Research
Residents engage in weekly Inquiry sessions focusing on quality improvement and evidence-based medicine
Training setting
Rural community setting in Grimsby, Ontario, with training across multiple towns including Beamsville and Smithville. Primary training site is West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, a 60-bed community hospital serving a 50,000 person catchment area.
Teaching approach
Competency-based medical education focused on developing comprehensive family physicians through progressive independence, mentorship, and diverse clinical experiences across various medical settings.
Enhanced skills
Not stated on CaRMS page
What the program looked at
  • CV/Life experience
  • Electives
  • Extra-curricular activities
  • Leadership skills
  • Medical Student Performance Record
  • Personal letter
  • Reference documents
  • Research/Publications
  • FMProC Situational Judgement Test

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

Per CaRMS. Staff change during the cycle, so check the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab) before emailing. Site staff and other contacts are listed there too.

Program websiteWebsiteInstagramCANPREPPCANPREPPThis 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.

From residents

Public podcast episodes and videos where residents describe this program. 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 →

Family Medicine elsewhere

Nearest to Rural Grimsby

  • Hamilton - Family MedicineMcMaster University

    Hamilton · 25 km

    40 positions · CMG, IMG

    City
  • Niagara - Family MedicineMcMaster University

    Niagara · 41 km

    10 positions · CMG, IMG

    Regional
  • Halton - Family MedicineMcMaster University

    Halton · 42 km

    9 positions · CMG, IMG

    City
In these collections:

Source

The program’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab) · 2027 match · last approved 22 Sep 2026 · not final until file review opens 26 November; as of 19 Oct 2026, re-checked every two weeks.

Accredited · CaRMS program ID 36241 · 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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