The Canadian Standard for full licensure

– Feb. 7, 2011

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada and the Medical Council of Canada are creating a single application process that would allow physicians, including international medical graduates, to apply for a medical licence to multiple medical regulatory authorities at the same time, instead of having to undergo different processes for each Canadian jurisdiction. This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s Foreign Credential Recognition Program. The new application process will launch in 2012 or in early 2013.

To develop this new application process, medical regulatory authorities across the country have had to harmonize some of their requirements for the licensing of physicians. This simplified list of requirements will form the basis on which the new application system will be built.

As a first step to harmonizing requirements, the medical regulatory authorities, through the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada, agreed on certain requirements for awarding a full licence.

Physicians applying for the first time to become licensed to practise medicine in a Canadian jurisdiction may achieve full licensure only if they:

• have an MD degree (WHO WDMS Seventh Edition [2000] or FAIMER IMED) or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from a school in the United States accredited by the American Osteopathic Association; and
• are a Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada; and
• have satisfactorily completed a discipline-appropriate postgraduate training program in allopathic medicine and evaluation by a recognized authority; and
• have achieved certification by the College of Family Physicians of Canada or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the Collège des médecins du Québec.

Many international medical graduates who arrive in Canada do not meet all of the requirements for full licensure and must work to fulfill them over time. Recognizing this fact, the medical regulatory authorities are now developing national requirements for granting provisional licences, and the process through which a candidate would subsequently move from a provisional to a full licence.

A small technical working group will create a list of requirements for provisional licensure that will then be presented to each medical regulatory authority for approval. This technical working group will meet in February to discuss these requirements and review a draft application process.

While the medical regulatory authorities work on defining standards for licensure, the Application for Medical Registration in Canada project team is busy reaching out to other stakeholder groups. Members of the project team will meet in the winter and spring with the Canadian faculties of medicine, University Registrar offices and the certifying colleges to discuss transferring information and documents with candidates’ consent.

Until the Application for Medical Registration in Canada has been developed, international medical graduates are encouraged to contact the medical regulatory authority in the province/territory in which they would like to practise for information on current requirements and the process to obtain a licence in that jurisdiction.