Calgary - General Surgery
University of CalgaryCalgary, Alberta
At a glance
- Approx. quota
- 51
- Length
- 5
- Applications per year
- 51–200
- Offered interviews
- 26–50%
CMG stream · open to Canadian medical graduates
IMG stream · open to international medical graduates
Info session
all 2 info sessions of this programWed 4 Nov 2026,6:30–8:30 pm MSTvia CANPREPP source (opens in a new tab)
Interviews
1 date, 28 Jan 2027
Calgary, 7 teaching sites
What stands out about this program
Residents attend a simulation endoscopy course at the end of first year.
From “Program highlights” on the CaRMS page
- The University of Calgary General Surgery program is a five-year residency with training at five Calgary sites, mainly Foothills Medical Centre and Peter Lougheed Centre.
- Community rotations are available outside Calgary in Lethbridge and Red Deer.
- A faculty research committee matches residents with scholarship mentors, and the Clinical Investigator Program supports graduate degrees.
What training looks like
- Setting
- Academic / tertiary hospital
- Rural exposure
- Not stated on CaRMS page
- Focus areas
- Early independence
- Research
- Offered · protected time
By year
Not stated on CaRMS page
Where you train
Calgary, Alberta: 7 teaching sites.
- Foothills Medical Centre
- Peter Lougheed Centre
- Rockyview General Hospital
- South Health Campus
- Alberta Children's Hospital
- Chinook Regional Hospital (Lethbridge · rural or distributed site)
- Red Deer Regional Hospital (Red Deer · rural or distributed site)
- Foothills Medical Center
- Peter Lougheed Hospital
- Rockyview General Hospital
- South Health Campus
- Alberta Children's Hospital
- Chinook Regional Hospital (Lethbridge · rural or distributed site)
- Red Deer Regional Hospital (Red Deer · rural or distributed site)
Record systems at the listed sites, all streams: Epic at 9 of 9.
Hospital facts
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.
- Clinical record
- Epic (Connect Care), fully electronic record since Nov 2024
Hospital size and activity: Alberta doesn't publish this as open data.
About Calgary
People
1,306,784residents, 2021 Census
Housing
4.9%rental vacancy rate
Winter and summer
−7.6 °CJanuary mean16.9 °CJuly mean
Job outlook
Very goodfor the specialty here, 2025–2027
How they choose
- Application file components
- CV
- Electives
- Examinations
- Extra-curricular
- Leadership skills
- MSPRs
- Personal letters
- Reference documents
- Research/Publications
- Transcripts
- Return of service, CMG stream
- Not stated on CaRMS page. Check the provincial return-of-service rules.
- Return of service, IMG stream
- Not stated on CaRMS page. Check the provincial return-of-service rules.
- IMG requirements, IMG stream
- Assessment by a provincial clinical assessment program
Interviews and info sessions
- Interview dates (2027 match)
- 28 Jan 2027
- Format
- Virtual
- Traditional (one on one/two on one)
- Panel
Info sessions
Wed 4 Nov 2026
6:30–8:30 pm MST
Info session · VirtualCANPREPP source (opens in a new tab)
Mon 9 Nov 2026
6:30–8:30 pm MST
Info session · VirtualCANPREPP source (opens in a new tab)
Pay and call
| Level | Annual salary |
|---|---|
| PGY-1 | $67,440 / year |
| PGY-2 | $74,153 / year |
| PGY-3 | $80,058 / year |
| PGY-4 | $86,281 / year |
| PGY-5 | $92,698 / year |
Call
- Call (provincial max)
- 1 in 4 in-house
- Post-call rule (provincial)
- No new responsibilities after the 24th hour of duty, apart from handover
- Max continuous duty (provincial)
- 24 consecutive hours, plus 2 hours for handover
Benefits
- Annual vacation
- 4 weeks/yr
- Call Stipends
- weekday in-house – $118.02weekend in-house / holiday – $178.72weekday home call – $59.01weekend home call / holiday – $89.35
- CMPA dues paid
- $1,500
- Dental plan
- 75% premium paid
- Educational leave
- 14 days paid leave
- Extended health insurance
- 75% premium paid$1000 per year Flexible Spending Account*
- Life insurance
- 100% towards $150,000 coverage
- Life Support Course Costs (Program Approved
- 100% paid
- Long-term disability insurance
- 100% paid for 75% gross income
- Maternity Leave
- 18 weeks total (17 weeks paid to match 90% of salary when combined with EI)
- Parental Leave
- 2 weeks leave with full pay and benefits;52 weeks (inclusive of Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leaves) – unpaid leave
- Practice Stipend
- $1,500
- Provincial dues (% of salary)
- .95%
- Sick leave
- Up to 3 months or to end contract paid leave, whichever occurs first
- Statutory holidays
- Paid days. Additional days off are given if resident works the day before and part of a named holiday.
Past matches
Open after round 1 in 1 of 8 years (2019–2026); still open after round 2 in 0 of 9 years.
Show the table, with round 2Hide the table
| Year | Open after round 1 | Open after round 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | not available | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 positions open after round 1 in 2024, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab) | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 0 | 0 |
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.
Year by year
2027 match
| Stream | Positions | Length | Interviews | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMG stream | 5 | 5 years | 1 date, 28 Jan 2027 | Nothing noted |
| IMG stream | 1 | 5 years | 1 date, 28 Jan 2027 | Nothing noted |
2026 match
| Stream | Positions | Length | Interviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMG stream | 5 | 5 years | 1 date, 29 Jan 2026 |
| IMG stream | 1 | 5 years | 1 date, 29 Jan 2026 |
The 2026 page of the CMG stream: our summary of its CaRMS description
- The University of Calgary's General Surgery training program offers a well-established, medium-sized residency that combines the benefits of both large and small programs.
- Residents develop close relationships with faculty, gain early operative experience, and are well-prepared for both subspecialty/academic training and general surgery practice.
- Research
- Robust research support through Research Committee, Office of Surgical Research, and Clinical Investigator Program with opportunities for advanced degrees and scholarly projects.
- Training setting
- Training occurs across five sites in Calgary, with core rotations at Foothills Medical Center and Peter Lougheed Hospital, and additional rotations at other Calgary hospitals and community sites in Lethbridge and Red Deer.
- Teaching approach
- The program follows Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) and Competence by Design (CBD), focusing on competency assessment, entrustable professional activities (EPAs), and frequent formative assessments.
- Enhanced skills
- Not stated on CaRMS page
- What the program looked at
- Academic Record
- MSPR
- References
- Research Background
- Personal Letter
- Electives
- Interview Performance
Contacts and links
- Program directors
Dr. Adrian Harvey
Dr. Nathan ZondervanAssistant Program Director
- Program office
Program/ Lead CaRMS Coordinator, Program/CaRMS Coordinator
Per CaRMS. Staff change during the cycle, so check the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab) before emailing. Site staff and other contacts are listed there too.
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.
General Surgery elsewhere
Nearest to Calgary
Did this page answer your question?