Family doctor in Canada: your Express Entry path, step by step

Your way into the Express Entry pool

Every invitation needs a profile in the Express Entry pool. Doctors usually qualify through:

• Federal Skilled Worker. Experience must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job; family medicine is TEER 1.
• Canadian Experience Class. For skilled work experience already gained in Canada.

The MCC rule. For the educational credential assessment that Express Entry needs, IRCC requires doctors to have their primary medical diploma assessed by the Medical Council of Canada, its designated body for the profession. The MCC report is valid for 5 years for immigration and is shared with IRCC from your physiciansapply.ca account.

The two groups for doctors

• Healthcare and social services: 12 months of full-time work (or the same part-time) as a family doctor within the last 3 years, in Canada or abroad. The panel above shows this group's latest round.
• Physicians with Canadian work experience: the same 12 months, but done in Canada. Its cut-offs have been among the lowest of any round.

Getting licensed

To practise you need the Medical Council of Canada's qualifying exams and a licence from the medical regulator of the province or territory where you will work. The Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada brings the regulators together but does not license anyone.

• Your MCC account: physiciansapply.ca holds your credentials, sends them for source verification and handles exam applications. Candidates for Ontario have source verification done through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario instead.
• The MCCQE: required for international medical graduates entering a Canadian residency and used by some Practice-Ready Assessment programs. It was called MCCQE Part I until 1 April 2026; only the name changed.
• Routes to practice: a residency match through CaRMS, which needs the NAC examination, or, for doctors who finished residency and practised independently abroad, a provincial Practice-Ready Assessment, a 12-week assessment in a workplace.

What family doctors earn

Job Bank shows doctors' pay as an annual figure rather than an hourly wage; see the Job Bank page in the sources for the national and provincial numbers.