The LMCC and a full licence

The Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC) is granted by the Medical Council of Canada (MCC). It is part of the requirements set by the provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities (MRAs) for issuing a licence to practise medicine in their jurisdictions.

Requirements

The MCC says that as of January 26, 2026, to be eligible for inclusion in the Canadian Medical Register a graduate in medicine must:

• be a graduate of a medical school accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools, or of a medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools with a sponsor note indicating it is an acceptable medical school in Canada, or of a United States School of Osteopathic Medicine accredited by the American Osteopathic Association;
• have been awarded a pass result on the MCC Qualifying Examination (MCCQE), formerly the MCCQE Part I;
• have the required medical credentials, including the medical degree or diploma, successfully source verified through the MCC or, in exceptional circumstances, have provided evidence of the required medical credentials that is deemed acceptable by the executive director and CEO;
• have paid the LMCC application fee to the MCC and not have any outstanding fees payable to the MCC.

Applying and paying

It depends on when you applied for the MCCQE.

• Applied for the MCCQE after January 26, 2026: the LMCC is issued automatically at no additional cost. There are no additional steps, fees or follow-up required.
• Applied for the MCCQE before January 26, 2026: log in to your physiciansapply.ca account, click Other Service Requests, select Apply for LMCC, and pay the LMCC application fee as well as any other outstanding fees to the MCC. The LMCC application fee is $50.00 and is non-refundable.

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

This answer is my reading of the official source, not official or legal advice. It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act. Disclaimer

A licence comes from the medical regulatory authority (MRA) of the province or territory where you want to practise. The MCC says each jurisdiction's MRA defines its own requirements, and that it is essential to check the requirements of the MRA where you want to practise.

What a full licence requires (the Canadian Standard)

The MCC says the Canadian Standard sets out the academic qualifications that make an applicant eligible for full licensure. Physicians must have:

• an acceptable medical degree from an acceptable medical school that, at the time they completed the program, was listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools;
• an LMCC;
• satisfactorily completed a discipline-appropriate postgraduate training program in medicine and an evaluation by a recognized authority;
• certification from the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or the Collège des médecins du Québec.

The Royal College

Royal College certification is recognition of your specialist training and qualifications by the Royal College. It is not a licence: medical licences are granted by a provincial or territorial MRA, not the Royal College, and allow you to practise medicine in that specific jurisdiction. The Royal College does not have the authority to issue licences to practise in Canada and cannot guarantee that success at an exam component will lead to licensure from an MRA. MRAs may consider exam success in the licensure application process.

The CFPC

The CCFP does not give you a licence to practise. The CFPC says registration or licensure to practise family medicine in Canada is a provincial responsibility and involves a number of different criteria; for licensing information, contact the local medical regulatory authority.

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

This answer is my reading of the official source, not official or legal advice. It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act. Disclaimer

The PER is a route to certification by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for specialists who completed their training outside Canada. In the Royal College's words, it offers an alternative route to certification that evaluates the credentials of an international medical graduate (IMG) and provides a process to ensure they are certified, supported, and adequately prepared to serve patients in Canada safely.

How it works

Eligibility is document based. The Royal College assesses your training against the Specialty Training Requirements for your specialty. If your training is ruled substantially equivalent, you receive an eligibility letter and can sit the Royal College certification exams. Certification then also requires two years of supervised practice in Canada in your specialty.

Being found eligible is not certification

Successful application to the PER does not guarantee Royal College certification. It provides access to the Royal College examination, which must be successfully completed in all components, and you must meet the outlined practice requirements before you are eligible for certification.

You do not have to finish the PER before it helps you get licensed

The PER is designed to end in Royal College certification, but provincial regulators have used milestones in the process to decide on licensure before certification is complete. An eligibility ruling alone may already count in some provinces: some registration classes accept candidates who are confirmed eligible for Royal College certification, not only those who hold it. The PER guide on this site shows how each province treats PER eligibility.

More on this site: PER guide

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

This answer is my reading of the official source, not official or legal advice. It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act. Disclaimer

You get an email about eight weeks after the exam, and the CCFP follows automatically when you pass.

Results

You will receive an email approximately eight weeks after the examination indicating your exam results are available in the CFPC portal. Results are reported as pass or fail, and unsuccessful candidates receive a Candidate Feedback Report approximately six to eight weeks after the results are released.

The CCFP

For practice-eligible candidates, the CCFP designation is awarded automatically once you pass the examination.

You do not need a physical copy of your certificate to apply for a medical licence in Canada. The CFPC informs all medical regulatory authorities across Canada once you are awarded the CCFP; they receive a list of new CCFP recipients.

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

This answer is my reading of the official source, not official or legal advice. It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act. Disclaimer

The MCC says most physicians who graduate from a Practice-Ready Assessment (PRA) program obtain a full licence within two years.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, passing the 12-week PRA-NL clinical field assessment does not guarantee full licensure in Newfoundland and Labrador or elsewhere in Canada.

More on this site: PRA-NL Requirements for IMGs: Newfoundland and Labrador

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

This answer is my reading of the official source, not official or legal advice. It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act. Disclaimer

Not by itself. These are supervised roles, and a clinical assistant or associate physician licence is not a licensure pathway or a route to independent practice on its own. The MCC says these roles are not equivalent to independent clinical practice.

Supervision on each licence

• British Columbia: associate physicians practise under the direction and supervision of an attending physician, and may never be the most responsible physician.
• Saskatchewan: clinical assistants are licensed to provide limited medical services under supervision in specific settings approved for the role.
• Prince Edward Island: both classes practise only under a supervisor approved by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Prince Edward Island.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: the clinical assistant licence is a supervised licence subject to oversight, tied to a Council-approved position. CPSNL does not describe it as a route to independent practice; confirm any future options directly with CPSNL.

Counting the time toward currency

Licensed time in these roles can still help you later, which is how candidates use them to close a practice gap. The MCC says that in some jurisdictions and under certain PRA programs, time worked as a licensed clinical assistant or associate physician in Canada may be recognized as current clinical practice for the purposes of bridging a gap. It gives Saskatchewan and Ontario as examples that currently count time in such roles as recent clinical experience for their PRA family medicine pathways, and says other provinces and territories may not yet recognize this experience.

Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick all accept licensed clinical assistant or associate physician work done anywhere in Canada toward the currency requirement of their family medicine PRA programs. Unlicensed clinical assistant work does not count.

• British Columbia: associate physician work does not count toward currency for independent practice in BC.
• Saskatchewan: SIPPA accepts family practice as the most responsible physician, licensed clinical assistant or associate physician work, and relevant additional postgraduate training as currency of practice. This includes licensed clinical assistant work done in Manitoba, which, unlike the unlicensed role in Ontario, is practice under a provincial licence.
• Ontario: hours worked as a clinical assistant in Ontario are not recognized as Canadian practice hours by provincial regulators or by Practice-Ready Assessment programs.
• Nova Scotia: may consider associate physician experience from another province at its discretion.

More on this site: Eligibility Screener

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

This answer is my reading of the official source, not official or legal advice. It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act. Disclaimer

Potential candidates who hold a temporary or restricted licence to practise medicine independently and who meet all other criteria in Category A or B may request special consideration for eligibility from the CFPC. Individuals who are registered in a residency training program and who provide clinical services outside the context of the residency program (i.e., moonlighting) cannot claim this experience as independent practice for purposes of examination eligibility for the practice-eligible route.

Official source: College of Family Physicians of Canada: Eligibility and Application Checked 2026-09-29

The routes, the exams and the words, in plain language: Start Here

Quoted from the official source on the date shown, trimmed and selected by me. Rules change: confirm on the official page before you act. This is not official or legal advice, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it. Disclaimer