Saskatoon - Neurosurgery

University of SaskatchewanSaskatoon, SaskatchewanCMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPP

Open on carms.ca

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 5 Sep 2025

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

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 6 years
Stream: CMG
Discipline: Neurosurgery
Applications per year: 0–50
Applicants offered interviews: 76–100%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 30067

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

Summary

The University of Saskatchewan offers a comprehensive 6-year Neurosurgery residency program fully accredited by the Royal College. The program aims to train exceptional, well-rounded neurosurgeons through a competency-based curriculum with extensive research opportunities and hands-on clinical experience.

Training

Research

Clinical and basic research strongly supported, with opportunities in spine injury, pediatric neurosurgery, oncology, neural regeneration, stroke, epilepsy surgery, and synchrotron neurosurgical applications.

Training setting

Located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with potential rotations in Regina and other Saskatchewan communities. Training occurs primarily at Royal University Hospital with a provincial, distributive learning approach.

Teaching approach

Competency-based medical education with progressive independence, emphasizing comprehensive training across surgical foundations and neurosurgical specialties. Strong focus on research, clinical skills, and interprofessional collaboration.

Setting types

Academic medical center
Provincial training network
Urban hospital
Distributive learning environment

Focus areas

Neurosurgery
Spine Surgery
Pediatric Neurosurgery
Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery
Neural Regeneration
Oncology
Epilepsy Surgery

Patient populations

Pediatric patients
Spine injury patients
Oncology patients
Stroke patients
Epilepsy patients
Neurovascular patients

Highlights

Competency by Design educational delivery
Up to 12 months for research
Up to 6 months interprovincial/international electives
Home call on Neurosurgery
Early hands-on operating room experience
Masters and Ph.D. program options
Royal College Clinical Investigator Program

Strengths

1:1 ratio of residents to faculty
Integrated pediatrics and spine training
Strong conference and meeting support
Comprehensive research opportunities
Provincially distributed learning model

Enhanced skills

Masters of Surgery
Ph.D. Program
Clinical Investigator Program
Subspecialty neurosurgical training

By year

PGY-1

NeurosurgeryRoyal University Hospital12 months
General Surgery/TraumaSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
PlasticsSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
Ortho SpineSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
ICUSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
Emergency MedicineSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
NeurologySaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year

PGY-2

NeurosurgeryRoyal University Hospital12 months
General Surgery/TraumaSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
PlasticsSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
Ortho SpineSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
ICUSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
Emergency MedicineSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
NeurologySaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year

PGY-3

NeurosurgeryRoyal University Hospital10 months
Outpatient ClinicSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
Cerebrovascular NeurosurgerySaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
NeuroradiologySaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
NeuropathologySaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year
Peripheral NerveSaskatchewan Health AuthorityPartial year

PGY-4

ResearchUniversity of Saskatchewan12 months
NeurosurgeryRoyal University Hospital10 months

PGY-5

NeurosurgeryRoyal University Hospital10 months
Optional Community NeurosurgeryReginaPartial year

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

What the program looks at

CaRMS application
Medical Student Performance Record
Casper test
Reference letters
Interview performance
Research experience
Leadership skills

Applications per year

0–50

Applicants offered interviews

76–100%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match): 26 Jan 2026

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

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 23 Jul 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Contract expired, may change.

Annual salary by PGY level, Saskatchewan
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$68,329 / year
PGY-2	$74,518 / year
PGY-3	$80,700 / year
PGY-4	$86,858 / year
PGY-5	$92,968 / year
PGY-6	$99,065 / year

One provincial scale for Saskatchewan, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 6 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: 100%
Dental plan: 100%
Educational leave: Minimum 7 days with pay, 12 Maximum
Employee Assistance Program: Two programs available through SMA and University of Saskatchewan
Extended health insurance: Blue Cross family coverage, if registered with a Provincial Health Plan
Frequency of call: 1:4 in-house (if in excess of 1:4 paid $196/period from 1700-0800 weekdays and $249 from 0800-0800 weekends)*;1:3 out-of-house
Life insurance: Paid premium, >$100,000 coverage
Long-term disability insurance: Paid premium cost for Disability Insurance
Maternity leave/ Paternity: In conformity with Sask. Labour Standards Act – 17 weeks max maternity leave and up to 35 weeks parental leave.5 paid days paternity (can split the 35 weeks parental leave with mother as desired.)
Meal allowance: n/a
On-Call Stipends: Home Light: per duty period: $72 weekday; $83 weekendIn House: per duty period: $166 weekday; $191 weekendICU/CCU: per duty period: $166 weekday; $191 weekend
Provincial dues (% of salary): 1 %
Provincial health insurance: Yes, if registered with Sask. Health
Sick leave: 1.25 days per month to maximum 75 days
Statutory and floating holidays: 1.5 times pay or 1/2 pay & day off for stats, plus 6 extra paid days off at Christmas
Supplemental Maternity Leave Benefits: 15 weeks topped to 90% pay when eligible for Employment Insurance

Call

Call (provincial max): 1 in 4 in-house, averaged over a rotation

The union agreement’s cap for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. Check with the program.

RDoS agreement, 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Dec 2025. The term has ended; its terms continue until a new agreement is signed.

Teaching sites

Royal University Hospital
Saskatchewan Health Authority sites

Hospital facts

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

Unfilled positions in past years

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: Saskatoon.

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.
Year	Open after round 1	Open after round 2
2018	not available	0
2019	0	0
2020	0	0
2021	0	0
2022	2 positions open after round 1 in 2022, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2023	0	0
2024	1 position open after round 1 in 2024, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2025	0	0
2026	0	0

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

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. Verify with the CaRMS lists. 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)). 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.

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

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

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: −15.4 °C Saskatoon Diefenbaker (Airport), 5.3 km away
July average: 18.3 °C Saskatoon Diefenbaker (Airport), 5.3 km away
Snowfall: 91.0 cm a year Saskatoon Diefenbaker (Airport), 5.3 km away
Days below −20 °C: 49.4 days a year Saskatoon Diefenbaker (Airport), 5.3 km away

People

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

Population: 266,141 people up 7.7% from 2016
Official languages: English only 92.1% · French only 0.0% · English and French 6.5% · neither 1.4% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 20.4% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 6.5% · non-permanent residents: 2.0%
Indigenous identity: 11.5% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 89.2% · public transit 3.4% · walking or cycling 5.4% · other 2.0% Average commute: 17.5 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: $85,000 before tax $74,500 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: Saskatoon, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 264,637 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.216 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: 3.1% October 2025 survey, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (census metropolitan area). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $55,881 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 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: 5.9% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.5 points. A survey estimate.

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 specialists in surgery (NOC 31101) in the Saskatoon - Biggar region for the 2025-2027 period.
Canada-wide, to 2033: Strong risk of Shortage ESDC’s projection for specialists in surgery, 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 34-10-0130-01. 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.
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 CdnMD 5 Oct 2026.