Thunder Bay - Family Medicine

NOSM UniversityThunder Bay, OntarioIMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPPContacts and 1 more link

CaRMS program description, 2027 match, last approved 9 Sep 2026 · See the 2026 version

2027 match programs, from CaRMS as of 5 Oct 2026. Programs can still change until file review opens 26 November; we re-check every two weeks. Always confirm on CaRMS (opens in a new tab).

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 2 years
Stream: IMG
Discipline: Family Medicine
Applications per year: 601+
Applicants offered interviews: 0–25%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 35658

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

Summary

This is a 2-year NOSM University Family Medicine program based in Thunder Bay, a regional referral centre for Northwestern Ontario.
Training is largely community based, with sites including Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Indigenous health access centres.
Residents travel for some rotations away from their home site, with housing and travel support provided.
IMG residents must complete a return-of-service commitment in Ontario immediately after training.

Training

Setting

Regional community
Academic / tertiary hospital
Rural / remote

Sites

6 teaching sites

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
St. Joseph’s Care Group
NorWest Community Health Centres

Show all 6

Dilico Family Health Team
Anishnawbe Mushkiki
Thunder Bay District Health Unit

Distributed across a region

Rural exposure

Required rural rotation (16 weeks)

Focus areas

Northern
Rural / remote
Indigenous health
Early independence

Research

Offered · research or quality-improvement project

Getting around

A car is recommended
Housing away from the home site is provided or paid for
Travel is reimbursed

Highlights

Housing support for core rotations away from home base, up to 6 months per year.
Opportunities to deliver care to Indigenous Peoples, including travel to northern First Nation communities.

By year

PGY-1

Family Medicine12
Family Medicine - Inpatient4
Family Medicine Rural8
Internal Medicine4
Emergency Medicine4
Obstetrics/Women’s Health4
Mental Health4
Pediatrics4
Electives8

PGY-2

Family Medicine12 or 16
Family Medicine - Inpatient4 or 8
Family Medicine Rural8
CARE Selective (Community Aligned Resident Experience)4
Internal Medicine4
Emergency Medicine4
Obstetrics/Women’s Health4
Surgical Selective4
Electives8

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

Application file components

CV
Electives
Examinations
Extra-curricular
Leadership skills
MSPRs
Personal letters
Reference documents
Research/Publications
Transcripts

Return of service

Required · this stream

IMG requirements

Observerships don’t count as clinical experience

Applications per year

601+

Applicants offered interviews

0–25%

Interviews

Dates (2027 match)

15 Jan 2027

Mode

Virtual

Format

Traditional (one on one/two on one)

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

Info sessions

Tue 27 Oct 20267:00 pm EST
Info session · Virtual
Link for NOSM University, Tue 27 Oct 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Thu 7 Jan 20277:00 pm EST
Social · Virtual
Link for NOSM University, Thu 7 Jan 2027 (opens in a new tab)
Mon 25 Jan 20277:00 pm EST
Info session · Virtual
Link for NOSM University, Mon 25 Jan 2027 (opens in a new tab)

From the program’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab), read 1 Oct 2026. Dates and times are as the program wrote them, not converted to your time zone. Programs add and change sessions: confirm with the program.

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 6 Jan 2025 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Contract expired, may change.

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

One provincial scale for Ontario, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 2 levels this program covers.

Call

Call (provincial max): 7 nights in 28 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.

PARO agreement, 1 Jul 2023 to 30 Jun 2026. The term has ended; its terms continue until a new agreement is signed.

Teaching sites

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (Thunder Bay)
St. Joseph’s Care Group (Thunder Bay)
NorWest Community Health Centres (Thunder Bay)
Dilico Family Health Team (Thunder Bay)
Anishnawbe Mushkiki (Thunder Bay)
Thunder Bay District Health Unit (Thunder Bay)

Hospital facts

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

Unfilled positions in past years

Open after round 1 in 6 of 8 years (2019–2026); still open after round 2 in 2 of 9 years.

Positions at this site, all streams. Site as CaRMS lists it: Thunder Bay.

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	4 positions open after round 1 in 2019, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2020	5 positions open after round 1 in 2020, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	3 positions open after round 2 in 2020, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)
2021	1 position open after round 1 in 2021, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2022	4 positions open after round 1 in 2022, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	2 positions open after round 2 in 2022, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)
2023	5 positions open after round 1 in 2023, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2024	4 positions 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

Grouped by the titles CaRMS lists. The program office (administrators and coordinators) usually answers questions about the program and applying; the director leads the training.

Program officeadministrators and coordinators

Lisa Patterson
Program Coordinator

Program director

Dr. Jason Sutherland

CaRMS lists no email for the director.

Site staffdirectors and coordinators at the teaching sites

Dr. Kim Varty
Site Director
Dr. Carla Dubois
Assistant Site Director

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

Location

Thunder Bay, Ontario

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: −13.4 °C Thunder Bay, 6.3 km away
July average: 18.0 °C Thunder Bay, 6.3 km away
Snowfall: not reported No weather station within 100 km reports it
Days below −20 °C: 42.2 days a year Thunder Bay, 6.3 km away

People

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

Population: 108,843 people up 0.9% from 2016
Official languages: English only 91.5% · French only 0.1% · English and French 8.0% · neither 0.5% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 8.6% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 1.0% · non-permanent residents: 2.5%
Indigenous identity: 14.1% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 88.5% · public transit 3.8% · walking or cycling 5.9% · other 1.8% Average commute: 15.6 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: $77,500 before tax $69,000 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: Thunder Bay, a medium population centre (30,000 to 99,999 people) 95,266 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.295 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: 3.9% October 2025 survey, Thunder Bay, Ontario (census metropolitan area). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $54,744 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Ontario, population 100,000 to 499,999, 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.
Unemployment rate: 4.3% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Thunder Bay, Ontario (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.6 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: Very good The employment outlook will be Very good for general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Northwest 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 34-10-0130-01. 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 6 Oct 2026.