Calgary - Plastic Surgery
University of CalgaryCalgary, AlbertaCMG stream
At a glance
- Approx. quota
- 3
- Length
- 5
- Applications per year
- 51–200
- Offered interviews
- 0–25%
CMG stream · open to Canadian medical graduates
Info session
details info sessions of this programThu 5 Nov 2026,5:30–6:30 pm MST
Interviews
1 date, 26 Jan 2027
Calgary, 8 teaching sites
What stands out about this program
PGY-5 residents run the senior resident cosmetic clinic independently.
From “Program curriculum” on the CaRMS page
Residents get exposure to less common areas such as gender surgery and wrist/distal radius surgery.
From “Program highlights” on the CaRMS page
Residents run a medical student primer covering all plastic surgery subspecialties.
From “Program curriculum” on the CaRMS page
- The University of Calgary Plastic Surgery program is a 5-year residency that admits three residents per year.
- Training takes place at several Calgary sites, including Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Children's Hospital, and community and private-practice settings.
- Residents must complete an annual research project and have weekly protected research time.
- Call is generally 1-in-4, nominally home call, but residents often stay in hospital.
What training looks like
- Setting
- Academic / tertiary hospital
- Urban community
- Rural exposure
- Not stated on CaRMS page
- Focus areas
- Small program
- Research
- Required · research or quality-improvement project · protected time
By year
Not stated on CaRMS page
Other rotations
- orthopaedic surgery (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- trauma (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- ICU (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- plastic surgery (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- breast melanoma (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- vascular surgery (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- Oral Maxillofacial Surgery (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
- ENT (PGY-1 and 2 - Surgical Foundations)
Where you train
Calgary, Alberta: 8 teaching sites.
- Foothills Medical Centre (FMC)
- Calgary Firefighters Burn Treatment Centre
- Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre / Tom Baker Cancer Centre
- Alberta Children’s Hospital (ACH)
- Rockyview General Hospital (RGH)
- Peter Lougheed Centre (PLC)
- South Health Campus (SHC)
- Private Offices and Accredited Surgical Facilities
Record systems at the listed sites: Epic at 6 of 8; no published record for 2.
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
- Not stated on CaRMS page. Check the provincial return-of-service rules.
Interviews and info sessions
- Interview dates (2027 match)
- 26 Jan 2027
- Format
- Virtual
- Panel
Info sessions
Thu 5 Nov 2026
5:30–6:30 pm MST
Info session
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 (as the program states it)
- In-house and home call · frequency “one-in-four (1:4)”
- 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
No repeated vacancies in CaRMS’s lists of open positions, 2019–2026.
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 | 3 | 5 years | 1 date, 26 Jan 2027 | Nothing noted |
2026 match
| Stream | Positions | Length | Interviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMG stream | 3 | 6 years | 1 date, 27 Jan 2026 |
The 2026 page of the CMG stream: our summary of its CaRMS description
- The University of Calgary offers a comprehensive 5-year Plastic Surgery Residency Training Program that emphasizes technical skill, academic proficiency, and CanMEDS competencies.
- The program provides early operative exposure, hands-on skill development, and a supportive environment with enthusiastic faculty and a tight-knit resident community.
- Research
- Mandatory annual research project, weekly protected research time, optional monthly research day, financial support for conference presentations.
- Training setting
- Urban medical training environment across multiple hospitals in Calgary, including academic medical centers, cancer centers, and children's hospitals.
- Teaching approach
- Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) with progressive independence, emphasizing targeted learning outcomes, frequent formative assessments, and holistic skill development across CanMEDS roles.
- Enhanced skills
- Not stated on CaRMS page
- What the program looked at
- Academic standing
- Awards
- Research portfolio
- Leadership experience
- Teaching experience
- Reference letters
- CV
- Personal letter
Contacts and links
- Program directors
Dr. Brett ByersAssociate Program Director
Dr. Aaron Knox
- Program office
Program Administrator
Per CaRMS. Staff change during the cycle, so check the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab) before emailing.
Plastic Surgery elsewhere
Nearest to Calgary
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