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Thunder Bay - Orthopedic Surgery

NOSM UniversityThunder Bay, Ontario

Stream

At a glance

Approx. quota
1 position
Length
5 years
Applications per year
51–200
Offered interviews
51–75%

CMG stream · open to Canadian medical graduates

IMG stream · open to international medical graduates

Return of service: Required

Info session

details info sessions of this program

Thu 10 Dec 2026,7:00–8:30 pm (time zone not stated)

Interviews

1 date, 30 Jan 2027virtual

Thunder Bay, 3 teaching sites4 teaching sites

A car is required

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

  • 24-hour in-hospital access to full-body cadavers for anatomy and surgical skills learning.

    From “Program highlights” on the CaRMS page

  • Financial support for travel to core placements and mandatory educational activities away from the home base.

    From “Program highlights” on the CaRMS page

  • This is a 5-year orthopedic surgery residency based in Thunder Bay, with rotations at other Northern Ontario centres.
  • Junior trauma, pediatrics and oncology rotations take place at the University of Toronto.
  • Residents must complete at least two research projects and get a dedicated four-week research block in PGY-3.
  • Residents must provide their own vehicle.

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

    which includes a hands-on, distributed rural residency involving travel away from the primary residence.

Not a ranking.

What training looks like

Setting
  • Regional community
  • Academic / tertiary hospital
Rural exposure
Not stated on CaRMS page
Focus areas
  • Northern
  • Procedural emphasis
Research
Required · research project · protected time
Getting around
  • A car is required
  • Travel is reimbursed

By year

PGY-1
  • Emergency Medicine / Research2 blocks
  • Intensive Care Unit (ICU)2 blocks
  • Vascular1 block
  • Internal Medicine1 block
PGY-2
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Junior Upper Extremity3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Junior Spine3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Junior TraumaSunnybrook, Toronto2 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Junior Foot and Ankle2 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Junior PediatricsSick Kids, Toronto2 blocks
PGY-3
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Senior Arthroplasty3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Senior Trauma3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – SportsOptional Sudbury Selective3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Electives3 blocks
  • Research1 block
PGY-4
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Senior PediatricsSick Kids, Toronto3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – OncologyToronto3 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Senior Upper Extremity2 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Senior Foot and Ankle2 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Selectives2 blocks
PGY-5
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Transition to Practice10 blocks
  • Orthopedic Surgery – Senior Spine3 blocks

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

Where you train

Thunder Bay, Ontario: 3 teaching sites4 teaching sites. A car is required.

  • Sunnybrook (Toronto)
  • Sick Kids (Toronto)
  • Health Sciences North

Distributed across a region

  • Sunnybrook (Toronto)
  • Sick Kids (Toronto)
  • University of Toronto (Toronto)
  • Health Sciences North (Sudbury · rural or distributed site)

Distributed across a region

Record systems at the listed sites, all streams: MEDITECH at 1 of 4, Oracle Health (Cerner) at 1; no published record for 2.

Moving to a new system: Sunnybrook (scheduled 2027). Health Sciences North.

Hospital facts

2 sites · 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.

Sunnybrook

Clinical record
Oracle Health, moving to a new system, scheduled 2027 As of 31 Oct 2026

Health Sciences North

Clinical record
MEDITECH Expanse (ONE HIS), moving to a new system As of 31 Oct 2026

ONE HITS runs MEDITECH Expanse for northeastern Ontario hospitals in two waves: the three founding hospitals went live in October 2019; the 20 hospitals of Wave 2 (including Health Sciences North) are moving over, with no date on the page. 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 Thunder Bay

  • People

    108,843residents, 2021 Census

    Municipality of Thunder Bay

  • Housing

    3.9%rental vacancy rate

    October 2025 survey, Thunder Bay, Ontario (census metropolitan area)

  • Winter and summer

    −13.4 °CJanuary mean18.0 °CJuly mean

    1991–2020 normals, Thunder Bay, 6.3 km away

  • Job outlook

    Undeterminedfor the specialty here, 2025–2027

More about Thunder Bay (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.
Return of service
Required
IMG requirements
Not stated on CaRMS page

Application file components as each stream’s CaRMS page describes them.

Interviews and info sessions

Interview dates (2027 match)
30 Jan 2027
Format
Virtual
  • Panel

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 5 levels this program covers.

Annual salary by PGY level, Ontario
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-1
$73,367 / year
PGY-2
$79,670 / year
PGY-3
$85,564 / year
PGY-4
$92,701 / year
PGY-5
$98,567 / 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.

Past matches

Open after round 1 in 2 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: Thunder Bay.

Show the table, with round 2
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.
YearOpen after round 1Open after round 2
2018not available0
201900
20201 position open after round 1 in 2020, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)0
202100
202200
202300
202400
20251 position open after round 1 in 2025, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)0
202600

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

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 stream15 years1 date, 30 Jan 2027VirtualNothing noted
IMG stream15 years1 date, 30 Jan 2027Virtual
  • CaRMS page changed during the match: requirements (noticed 13 Oct)

2026 match

The 2026 match, one row per stream (scrolls sideways on narrow screens)
StreamPositionsLengthInterviews
CMG stream15 years1 date, 31 Jan 2026
IMG stream15 years1 date, 31 Jan 2026
The 2026 page of the CMG stream: our summary of its CaRMS description
  • The NOSM University Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program in Thunder Bay offers a comprehensive 5-year training experience focused on developing competent orthopedic surgeons prepared to practice in any setting, with a strong emphasis on northern and rural medical practice.
  • The program provides hands-on surgical training, diverse clinical experiences, and a commitment to producing skilled, professional orthopedic specialists.
Research
Residents complete research projects, with dedicated research blocks and expert guidance, including an eight-week research rotation in PGY-1 and a four-week research block in PGY-3.
Training setting
Based in Thunder Bay, with opportunities for rotations at other Northern Ontario learning centres and specialized rotations in Toronto, including trauma, pediatrics, and oncology settings.
Teaching approach
Competence by Design (CBD) curriculum focused on hands-on learning, progressive skill development, and comprehensive training across diverse orthopedic subspecialties with an emphasis on community-based practice.
Enhanced skills
Not stated on CaRMS page
What the program looked at
  • Medical Student Performance Record (MSPR)
  • Personal letter
  • CV/Resume
  • Reference letters
  • Interview performance

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

  • Dr. Travis Marion

CaRMS lists no email for the director.

Program office

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

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.

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 →

Orthopedic Surgery elsewhere

Nearest to Thunder Bay

  • Winnipeg - Orthopedic SurgeryUniversity of Manitoba

    Winnipeg, MB · 598 km

    3 positions · CMG

  • London - Orthopedic SurgeryWestern University

    London · 863 km

    6 positions · CMG, IMG

  • Hamilton - Orthopedic SurgeryMcMaster University

    Hamilton · 922 km

    5 positions · CMG, IMG

In these collections:

Source

The CMG stream’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab), last approved 8 Sep 2026 · The IMG stream’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab), last approved 7 Oct 2026 · 2027 match · not final until file review opens 26 November; as of 19 Oct 2026, re-checked every two weeks.

Accredited · CaRMS program IDs 35911 (CMG stream), 35699 (IMG stream) · How these pages are made › · See the 2026 match under Year by year

What changed, noticed 13 Oct: IMG stream: Language proficiency: wording changed. See what changed

What changed on the program’s CaRMS page

We read each program’s CaRMS page about every two weeks and note what differs. The date is when we noticed it; the change was made in the window shown. Reformatting is not listed, and a contacts change is listed without names.

  1. Noticed 13 Octchanged between 5 and 13 Oct

    • IMG stream: Language proficiency: wording changed

      … at the undergraduate medical school was conducted completely in English, then a candidate can submit a copy, or printout, of the World Directory of Medical Schools website listing the medical school which clearly states that the language of instruction is …
      From the CaRMS page, read 13 Oct

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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