North Okanagan - Family Medicine

University of British ColumbiaNorth Okanagan, British ColumbiaIMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPP

Open on carms.ca

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 11 Sep 2025

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

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 2 years
Stream: IMG
Discipline: Family Medicine
Applications per year: 201–400
Applicants offered interviews: 51–75%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 30201

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

Summary

The UBC Family Medicine North Okanagan site offers a unique two-year residency program nestled in the beautiful Okanagan region. Located in Vernon, this program provides comprehensive family medicine training with a focus on rural and community-based healthcare, offering residents a balanced lifestyle with year-round recreational opportunities.

Training

Research

Residents participate in a required Scholarship Curriculum with protected time for projects.

Training setting

Located in Vernon, BC, with clinical work spanning local communities including Vernon, Armstrong, Lumby, Enderby, and Salmon Arm. Primary training site is Vernon Jubilee Hospital in a midsize community with urban amenities and world-class resorts.

Teaching approach

Integrated longitudinal and block curriculum emphasizing competency-based medical education, progressive independence, and holistic patient care with a strong focus on community and team-based learning.

Setting types

Rural community hospital
Community clinics
Academic medical center

Focus areas

Rural Medicine
Community Healthcare
Indigenous Health
Health Equity
Team-Based Care

Patient populations

Rural communities
Indigenous populations
Vulnerable populations
Diverse community settings

Highlights

Mandatory 2-month rural rotation
Optional Extended Rural Training (4-6 months)
Distributed training across 23 sites
Ski Doc shifts at SilverStar Mountain Resort
Newly constructed subsidized resident housing
Student Loan Forgiveness ($8000 per year)

Strengths

Comprehensive rural medicine training
Strong focus on health equity
Flexible learning schedule
High exposure to team-based care
Prioritization of resident wellness

Enhanced skills

Emergency Medicine
Care of the Elderly
Anesthesia
Palliative Medicine
Sports and Exercise Medicine
Clinician Scholars program

By year

Not stated on CaRMS page

Selection

What the program looks at

File review (50%)
MMI interview (45%)
FMProC score (5%)

Applications per year

201–400

Applicants offered interviews

51–75%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match): 17, 17–27, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27 and 28 Jan 2026; 8 Feb 2026

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

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 2 Sep 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Salaries from April 2027.

Annual salary by PGY level, British Columbia
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$71,390 / year
PGY-2	$79,571 / year

One provincial scale for British Columbia, 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
CMPA dues paid: Yes. Mandatory
Dental plan: 100% Premiums Paid
Educational leave: Yes
Extended health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Frequency of calls: 1 in 4 onsite/1 in 3 offsite
Life insurance: 100% Premium Paid
Long-term disability insurance: Yes 100% Premiums Paid
Maternity leave: 17 weeks, plus up to 78 weeks Parental Leave
Meal allowance: No
Provincial dues (% of salary): 1.5%
Provincial health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Sick leave: Yes
Statutory holidays: 2 x pay plus extra day with pay

Call

Call (provincial max): 1 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.

RDBC agreement, 1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2029.

Teaching sites

Vernon Jubilee Hospital

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.

Vernon Jubilee Hospital

Matched to Vernon Jubilee Hospital (Vernon) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 4,704 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 1,249 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Sources and licences

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia.

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

North Okanagan, British Columbia

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: −3.5 °C Vernon, 1.9 km away
July average: 20.6 °C Vernon, 1.9 km away
Snowfall: 92.8 cm a year Vernon, 1.9 km away
Days below −20 °C: 2.1 days a year Vernon, 1.9 km away

People

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

Population: 44,519 people up 11.0% from 2016
Official languages: English only 93.3% · French only 0.0% · English and French 6.3% · neither 0.4% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 12.4% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 1.4% · non-permanent residents: 1.1%
Indigenous identity: 7.3% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 87.7% · public transit 1.4% · walking or cycling 8.5% · other 2.3% Average commute: 18.0 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: $73,500 before tax $66,500 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: Vernon, a medium population centre (30,000 to 99,999 people) 51,896 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.265 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)Time-limited: this place meets only the previous community definition, which stays in place “until November 1, 2027 or the day that is 6 months after the day on which a census is published by Statistics Canada, whichever is later”.

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: 3.4% October 2025 survey, Vernon, British Columbia (census agglomeration). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $54,086 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, British Columbia, population 30,000 to 99,999, 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: Good The employment outlook will be Good for general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Thompson - Okanagan 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.

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 34-10-0131-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation or Statistics Canada of this product.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada, Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS), 2024 to 2033 projections).
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020).
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada, 3-Year Employment Outlooks).
Adapted from Statistics Canada, Index of Remoteness (17-26-0001), 2021. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Student Loan Forgiveness (Canada.ca), page dated 2026-06-03.
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 CdnMD 5 Oct 2026.