Stringent credentialing criteria mandatory for Royal College certification
Credentialing is the process of verifying that a physician has met all the requirements necessary for Royal College certification. To become eligible for the next stage of assessment — examination — physicians must meet an array of credentialing requirements set by a designated specialty committee of the Royal College.
Multiple routes to certification
Physicians who practise in Canada follow various training pathways to become specialists. Society needs to ensure they are all appropriately certified. To meet this need, the Royal College has established a number of routes to certification for specialists and subspecialists. Routes to certification include the following:
For Canadian and US medical residents
The traditional route
Canadians and US medical candidates who are assessed as having satisfactorily completed specialty-specific training in either an accredited Canadian residency program or an approved US Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) residency program may be eligible to write the certification examinations through the traditional pathway.
Every Canadian- or US-trained resident who wishes to take an additional Royal College specialty examination must complete the Application for Evaluation of an Additional Specialty form. Learn more here.
Deadlines
The application deadline for specialty examinations is April 30 of the year before a physicians wishes to become eligible for the examinations. The application deadline for subspecialty examinations is August 31 of the year before a physicians wishes to become eligible for the examinations. Deadline information is sent to all Canadian program directors each year; however, it is the candidate’s responsibility adhere to the deadlines. Learn more about application deadlines and fees.
If you miss a deadline
If you miss a deadline you may still be eligible to sit examinations in the following year but penalty fees apply.
For licensed specialist physicians practicing in Canada without Royal College certification
Practice Eligibility Route for Specialists (PER)
The Practice Eligibility Route applies to physicians practising as specialists in Canada without Royal College certification. Physicians may apply to the PER via an expression of interest application. All PER candidates undergo a review of the breadth and scope of their practice, complete 24 months of individualized continuing professional development, and undergo a credentials review that includes a review of previous training, multi-source feedback from medical colleagues, co-workers and patients.
The Royal College examines such candidates’ competencies through one of two equally rigorous routes: Route A, the Royal College’s established certification examination, or Route B, a newly developed and highly structured, practice-based assessment/examination of fundamental knowledge and skills for the discipline, as well as a focused assessment of the physician’s identified practice.
CMQ-Certified Specialist Route Physicians certified by the Collège des médecins du Québec in a specialty or subspecialty recognized by the Royal College may be eligible to apply for Fellowship and certification through the CMQ Certified Specialist Route.
Information regarding the eligibility requirements and the application form can be found here.
For academic physicians working in health science centres
Academic Certification
Deans of Medicine may apply for Academic Certification for specialist physicians they wish to recruit to undertake a dedicated academic role in education and/or research in addition to their clinical practice. Upon acceptance, membership remains in effect as long as the physician retains the same faculty position for which they received Academic Certification. Learn more.
For International medical graduates (IMGs)
Physicians who have completed postgraduate medical education outside Canada and the US may qualify for the following routes to certification:
Jurisdiction Approved Training
This route is for IMGs who have completed training in one of 29 approved jurisdictions. Learn more.
Practice Ready Assessment
This route is for IMGs who are deemed ready to practise after a three- to six-month practise assessment initiated by their provincial Medical Regulatory Authority. Learn more.
Individual Competency
This route is for IMGs who have previously practiced in an international jurisdiction but who have had an assessment of skills initiated by their provincial medical regulatory authority. If the outcome of the assessment is that the physician needs additional residency to enter medical practise in Canada and they are able to obtain a Canadian residency position, they may be eligible for the Individual Competency Route. Learn more.
