Repatriation

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) funds postgraduate medical training positions in Ontario to recruit physicians who have completed or partially completed postgraduate residency training outside Canada and require up to two years of training to meet the national certification requirements of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). In exchange for this funding, candidates are required to fulfill return of service (ROS) obligations in an eligible community.

General Eligibility:

  1. Canadian Citizen or permanent resident
  2. Degree from accredited medical school listed under the World Health Organization (WHO) medical school directory list
  3. Offer of postgraduate training appointment from faculty of medicine in Ontario
  4. Letter of Assessment from RCPSC specifying the length of training required for the applicant to be eligible to write the certification examinations.

This program is open to graduates of Canadian, U.S. or international medical schools.

Applicants meeting these criteria may apply to one of the following streams, based on the level of postgraduate training completed prior to the proposed residency start date.

If you completed your family medicine training in the U.S. you should contact the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) to see if you are currently eligible to take the national family medicine certification examinations.

Repatriation Information for Applicants

Stream 1

For applicants who have FULLY completed postgraduate training in a program outside Canada that has been assessed and recognized by the RCPSC.

Application for a residency position in the same specialty (For Example: completion of a core internal medicine program and applying for additional core internal medicine training)

Require a RCPSC assessment letter of candidate’s postgraduate medical training outside Canada and is required up to a maximum of two years of residency training.

ROS= year for year in an eligible community

Application for a residency position in a subspecialty (For Example: completion of a core internal medicine program and applying for an internal medicine subspecialty training).

Require a RCPSC assessment letter of candidate’s postgraduate medical training outside Canada

ROS= 5 years in an eligible community

** Physicians applying to Medicine or Pediatrics programs through this Steam will only be considered after the 2nd iteration of the R4 medicine/R4 Pediatrics Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) match date.

Stream 2

For applicants who have partially completed postgraduate training in a program outside Canada and their training has been assessed and recognized by the RCPSC.

Applications through Stream 2 have to be in their original specialty/subspecialty.

Require a RCPSC assessment letter of candidate’s postgraduate medical training outside Canada.

ROS= 5 years in an eligible community.

** Physicians applying through this Stream will only be considered after the first and second iterations of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS).

Funding

Eligible candidates must receive a postgraduate training appointment from an Ontario medical school to be considered for funding through the Repatriation Program. Candidates should contact the postgraduate medical education office (PGME) at one or more of the six Ontario medical schools to apply for a postgraduate residency position.

Return of Service Requirements

Successful applicants will be required to sign a ROS agreement with the ministry committing to practice in an eligible community. Please refer to the streams for length of ROS. Candidates cannot begin residency training unless they have signed and returned the ROS agreement.

For more information concerning the residency training and return of service for this program, please send an email to: PPUProgramOfficer@Ontario.ca 

Application Procedure

There is NO application form for this program. If you meet all the program eligibility requirements, please follow these steps:

Contact a postgraduate medical education office (PGME) at one or more of the six Ontario medical schools that offer postgraduate specialty training at the beginning of your final year of postgraduate medical training. The PGME office will assist you in applying for a postgraduate training appointment.

The PGME office will request specific documents from you in order to evaluate your candidacy such as curriculum vitae, transcripts, previous evaluations, and letters of reference. Required documents vary from program to program. However, submission of the letter from the RCPSC or CFPC confirming your required length and type of training (training evaluation letter) is mandatory. Once all documents are received, the PGME office will forward your request to the appropriate Program Director for review and assessment.

Once you have received an offer for a postgraduate training position from a university, the PGME office will forward your package to the ministry. Please note that it is acceptable for the PGME office and/or program director to make an offer to you that is conditional upon funding through the ministry’s Repatriation Program.

For more information please contact the Physicians Planning Unit:

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Physicians Planning Unit
Health Human Resources Policy Branch
56 Wellesley St. West,
12 Floor Toronto ON M5S 2S3
t. 416.327.8339
f. 416.327.0169
e. PPUProgramOfficer@Ontario.ca