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Okanagan South - Family Medicine

University of British ColumbiaOkanagan South, British ColumbiaIMG stream

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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
29931

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

Summary

The Okanagan South Family Practice Residency Program is a medium-sized rural program focused on graduating physicians ready for independent practice in rural areas. Located in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, the program serves the South Okanagan region and emphasizes comprehensive rural medical training with a strong commitment to community-based care.

Training

Research
Residents complete a quality improvement project in R1 and a scholar project in R2, with opportunities to present at UBC Regional Scholar Day.
Training setting
The program is based in Penticton, a central urban area in the Okanagan Valley, with training across 14 suburban and rural communities. Primary training site is the 242-bed Penticton Regional Hospital with a newly built David Kampe Tower.
Teaching approach
Competency-based medical education with a focus on progressive independence, hands-on teaching, and longitudinal patient care. Emphasizes evidence-based medicine, practical skills, and resident wellness.
Setting types
  • Regional hospital
  • Community clinics
  • Rural healthcare settings
Focus areas
  • Rural Medicine
  • Community-Based Family Practice
  • Rural and Remote Healthcare
  • Indigenous Healthcare
Patient populations
  • Rural communities
  • Indigenous populations
  • Underserved populations
  • Diverse Okanagan Valley communities
Highlights
  • Mandatory 2-month rural rotation
  • Enhanced rural skills training
  • Point of care ultrasound training
  • Simulation learning
  • Academic Half Day curriculum
  • Quality improvement project
  • Scholar project presentation
  • International elective opportunity
Strengths
  • Comprehensive rural medical training
  • Strong community engagement
  • Extensive academic and administrative support
  • Diverse training opportunities
  • Emphasis on resident wellness
Enhanced skills
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Care of the Elderly
  • Anesthesia
  • Palliative Care
  • Sports Medicine

By year

PGY-1
  • Rotation Length
PGY-2
  • Rotation Length

From the program's rotation list.

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
LevelAnnual 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

  • Penticton Regional 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.

Penticton Regional Hospital

Matched to Penticton Regional Hospital (Penticton) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26
3,482 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
837 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).

More links

Location

Okanagan South, British Columbia

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
−0.8 °C Penticton, 2.4 km away
July average
21.4 °C Penticton, 2.4 km away
Snowfall
61.6 cm a year Penticton, 2.4 km away
Days below −20 °C
0.1 days a year Penticton, 2.4 km away

People

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

Population
36,885 people up 9.3% from 2016
Official languages
English only 92.8% · French only 0.1% · English and French 6.5% · neither 0.6% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants
13.4% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 1.3% · non-permanent residents: 1.0%
Indigenous identity
6.8% of residents
How people commute
car, truck or van 80.5% · public transit 1.9% · walking or cycling 14.2% · other 3.4% Average commute: 15.1 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
$68,000 before tax $61,600 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
Penticton, a medium population centre (30,000 to 99,999 people) 36,893 people in 2021
Remoteness index
0.282 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
2.6% October 2025 survey, Penticton, 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 34-10-0132-01. 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.