* Note: There will be no February, 2021 intake of nominations as the Academic Certification process is paused as the policy is under revision. There will be an intake of nominations later in 2021. Please email academiccert@royalcollege.ca if you wish to be on the list of contacts to be notified when a date has been announced.
Academic certification assists Canadian university faculties of medicine in the recruitment of international
specialists as full-time clinical faculty at the rank of associate or full professor when recruitment of qualified
Royal College certificants has been unsuccessful.
Academic certification is considered conditional as it is contingent upon the physician maintaining a full-time
academic post at a Canadian university.
Applications for academic certification are accepted in the spring and fall. Applications must be submitted by
February 28 for the spring cycle and by September 30th for the fall cycle. The candidate must be
nominated for academic certification and the request must come from the dean of the relevant faculty of medicine,
with appropriate supporting documentation and the non-refundable
application fee.
Eligibility criteria
At the time of nomination, the nominee must
Hold the rank of associate professor or higher
Have held a full-time academic faculty position or equivalent in any jurisdiction (i.e., engaged primarily in
academic duties) for at least five years
Be a specialist and/or subspecialist in a discipline recognized by the Royal College
Be subject to ongoing evaluation of performance and practice by a supervisor/superior
It should be noted that physicians who are not employed by the university, but by an affiliated organization, can
be considered for Academic Certification. Criteria and eligibility will be the same as the route for those
employed by a university directly. Examples of affiliated organizations are hospital research institutes or cancer
organization research institutes.
If you are unable to open the above fillable pdf form, please download
the printable form which is compatible with most web browsers. Note that both forms are the same, but one is
fillable, allowing you to type your information, which you can then print to email or fax to us; and the other is
printable, requiring you to handwrite your information. It is only necessary to submit one form.
Not sure which route applies to you?
Contact us at 1-800-267-2320 or credentials@royalcollege.ca for
help getting started.