Residency: interviews, ranking and the match

CaRMS runs the application service and the computer match for entry into residency training in Canada. It does not decide who gets a position.

Through CaRMS Online you complete an application, select and apply to programs, upload and assign your supporting documents, and rank the programs you applied to in order of preference. Programs review the applications they receive and rank the applicants they want in order of preference. The CaRMS Match Algorithm then compares the applicants' and the programs' rank order lists (ROLs) and matches applicants with their best possible outcome among the programs that ranked them. The final preferences in the rank order lists are the sole determinants of match outcomes.

What CaRMS does not do

CaRMS is a not-for-profit, fee-for-service organization that works in close cooperation with the medical education community, the medical schools, and residents and students. It does not make decisions about program descriptions, position quotas, distribution or criteria. It does not set up interviews or have input in the selection process. It does not provide specific strategic advice.

Who makes the decisions

Decisions about the policies governing the match, including eligibility and the number of positions, are made by provincial bodies together with faculties of medicine. Decisions about which applicants are selected are made by the participating faculties of medicine.

Where CaRMS tells you to start

CaRMS's advice to international medical graduates preparing for the match starts with the program descriptions. CaRMS collects and posts the program descriptions provided by the programs of the Canadian medical schools taking part in each of its matches.

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 It may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and I take no responsibility for decisions made on it: confirm on the official page before you act.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

All match timelines are on carms.ca.

CaRMS drafts timeline options and gives them to the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada's (AFMC) Resident Matching Committee (ARMC) for external consultation and approval. Annual timelines follow a set template, because a certain number of days must be given to each phase of the match (application period, file review period and so on).

Changes can still be made after a timeline has been approved. CaRMS recommends subscribing to alerts about changes by entering your email address in the sign-up option at the top of each timeline on carms.ca.

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

We publish detailed reports on each of our matches on an annual basis and hold national aggregate statistics on medical education in Canada dating back to 1972.

Opening of the article; the full answer is on CaRMS.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2026-04-21

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

The Family Medicine / Emergency Medicine (FM/EM) match has been renamed the Family Medicine / Enhanced Skills (FM/ES) match. The FM/EM match was introduced in 2006 for applicants who had completed, or were completing, postgraduate training in family medicine in Canada and wanted additional training in emergency medicine.

A CaRMS article last updated in 2021 says that to apply to the FM/ES match, you need to be in a family medicine program in Canada or the United States. If you did your family medicine residency outside Canada and the United States, you are not eligible for the FM/ES match.

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

If you have a return of service contract, you must declare it in the declaration section of your application. We recommend you contact the provincial body to verify your eligibility on other provinces.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2025-05-06

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

Your rights as an applicant are defined by applicable human rights legislation, which is meant to ensure everyone has equal employment opportunities regardless of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, family or marital status, sex, a pardoned conviction, disability or sexual orientation.

If you want CaRMS to act on your behalf and file a complaint, you must provide:

• the names of the interviewers;
• the date and time of the interview;
• the program and faculty of medicine; and
• an outline of the complaint.

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

After your interviews, rank the programs you applied to from most preferred to least preferred, and leave out any you applied to but do not wish to train at. Programs also rank the applicants they want in order of preference.

You can rank any program you applied to whatever your interview offer status: selected, not selected or not updated. The status does not affect your ability to rank a program.

If you applied in more than one stream of the same postgraduate program, for example to two locations in the same discipline, the process is the same: rank them in order of preference.

Ranking is binding

Applicants and institutions in a match enter into a CaRMS contract. Listing a program or an applicant on a submitted rank order list creates a binding commitment to the match result.

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

Go to MY APPLICATION and select Rank order list (ROL). Confirm your status with the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP): click the pencil icon next to "Are you registered with the NRMP?", then select No if you are not participating, or select Yes and give your AAMC and NRMP ID if you are participating in a match this year. Submitting is a two-step process: click "Submit", then "Confirm".

Checking that it went in

Go to "My Application - Rank Order List (ROL)". The status must read "Submitted" with the date and time in green. That is what tells you your list was submitted and will be considered in the match.

Changing it

You can change a submitted list until the rank order list deadline. Click "Edit", make your changes, and submit it again.

Keeping a copy

CaRMS recommends printing your rank order list, or taking a screenshot of it, before the rank order list deadline. Once that deadline has passed you no longer have access to your list, and you regain access to it on Match Day.

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

Keeping rank order lists confidential allows both applicants and programs to express their true preferences in a safe, protected way. Just as we would not make an applicant’s rank order list public, programs are afforded the same rights.

Opening of the article; the full answer is on CaRMS.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2026-04-01

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

To withdraw from a match, login to your CaRMS online account and go to “My Application -> Match Participation”. From this page, click the Withdraw button at the bottom of the page.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2026-02-24

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

CaRMS' ranking tools let two applicants (partners) prepare and submit their rank order lists as a couple.

How it differs

Each program wanted by one partner can be paired with a program wanted by the other, and each pairing can be ranked separately. You can rank the same programs more than once. Ranks are considered mutually: if applicant A cannot match to their first choice, then applicant B cannot either.

Who you can rank with

Only applicants in the same match can submit a rank order list as a couple. You cannot rank as a couple with an applicant in a different match.

Setting it up

You must identify your partner before you begin ranking, and both of you must identify each other as partners. Go to "My Application - Rank Order List (ROL)", select "Rank as a couple" and click "ADD/REMOVE A PARTNER". Enter your partner's CaRMS ID number and last name and click SEARCH. Check the search results and click SAVE to continue.

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

Our system is designed to allow you to identify your participation in designated matches in the United States (National Resident Matching Program - NRMP). When at the step of selecting programs in your CaRMS Online account, you will be asked to confirm this information.

Opening of the article; the full answer is on CaRMS.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2026-07-10

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

CaRMS provides programs outside the match with your documents on request. Email [email protected] asking for your documents to be transferred, and include the complete, detailed list of the documents you want transferred.

CaRMS cannot transfer documents to ERAS if you are an international medical graduate (IMG).

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

Under MY RESULTS, click Match results. Match results are final.

Your matched program will contact you directly within 30 days. If you matched in the first iteration, your residency training begins on July 1 of your match year unless you arrange otherwise with the program. If you are unmatched, you will receive further information on how to proceed.

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

Canadian faculties of medicine are institutional clients of CaRMS. CaRMS provides each Canadian faculty with the names of that faculty’s consenting unmatched graduates 24 hours in advance of match day. As each faculty’s support practices are unique, we are unable to comment on exactly how this information is used.

Opening of the article; the full answer is on CaRMS.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2026-01-28

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

Yes, you are obliged to take it. Under the terms and conditions of the CaRMS applicant contract and the AFMC service contract with all faculties of medicine in Canada, all matches are legally binding. That binding commitment requires the applicant to accept an appointment to a residency program if a match results. Asked how a matched applicant can be released from a matched program, CaRMS gives that rule and describes no release process.

Deferring the start, or asking for leave

CaRMS's service contracts cover the Application and Matching Program only: the contract begins when you take part in a match and ends when you match and are given a contract or letter of intent. Those contracts state that applicants must be available to begin their residency on July 1 of the match year. CaRMS does not say in these answers who, if anyone, can agree to a later start or a leave.

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

Past applicants may sometimes need an official letter from CaRMS that confirms a recent or past match result into residency. Requests for this type of letter must be sent by email to [email protected].

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2026-02-04

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

If you go unmatched in the first iteration, you can still take part in the second iteration, which is a repetition of the match process. Some restrictions may apply: some provinces may not accept applications from you if you did not submit any applications to programs in that province in the first iteration.

Which positions are left

After first iteration Match Day there are always positions that go unfilled. On Match Day a list of unfilled positions can be accessed on carms.ca, and those positions are available during the second iteration. They can become competitive, meaning they are available for all eligible applicant types. Shortly after first iteration Match Day you can also see the positions available in the second iteration on the program descriptions page of your match.

Moving from the first to the second iteration

You cannot take part in both iterations at the same time, which is why CaRMS Online may say you are not eligible for the second iteration while you are still in the first. Wait until the first iteration is over, then log into your CaRMS Online account after first iteration Match Day to participate. If you did not submit a rank order list, you are considered unmatched when the results are published.

Applying in the second iteration

From the opening of the second iteration until file review, you can make changes to your application, assign documents and apply to programs in CaRMS Online. If a program you applied to in the first iteration is available again, you must re-apply to it if you wish: select the program again, re-assign your documents and submit the application again.

Interviews

The second iteration has a more condensed timeline, so there is no official interview period. Programs that still decide to interview an applicant can do so virtually, and they may not update your interview offer status before contacting you to schedule it.

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 R-1 match fee covers your participation in both the first and the second iteration, and includes applications to four programs.

Any of those four included program applications you did not use in the first iteration carry over to the second iteration. They do not carry over from one match year to the next.

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

Quebec divides its residency positions into two main streams. The regular stream is where Canadian citizens, permanent residents, people with Indian status and refugees apply. The particular stream, filled in the second iteration, is for IMGs without one of those statuses, and for IMGs of any status who have already done accredited postgraduate training in Canada or the United States.

Before either stream, an IMG first needs degree equivalence from the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ).

The two streams

The Government of Quebec defines several streams (contingents) for admission to postgraduate medical education, and the two main ones are the regular stream and the particular stream. In the R-1 match, particular stream positions are offered in the second iteration, and have been filled there since the 2025 R-1 match. In the subspecialty matches Quebec programs also run a regular and a particular stream, and there the regular positions are available to applicants who are currently doing their residency at a program in Quebec.

Who applies where in the R-1 match

• IMGs with no previous accredited postgraduate training: citizens, permanent residents, people with Indian status and refugees apply in the regular stream, first or second iteration. People with any other status, or no status, apply in the particular stream, second iteration.
• IMGs with previous accredited postgraduate training in Canada or the United States: whatever their status, or with no status, they apply in the particular stream, second iteration.
• Canadian citizens and permanent residents without that previous training are not eligible for the particular stream.
• Residents now training in Quebec cannot apply to the particular stream.

Fellowships

In Quebec only, fellowship experience that took place in Canada or the United States counts as postgraduate training. CaRMS defines fellowships as non-accredited specialized training offered by a postgraduate training institution, with supervised patient contact, that does not lead to certification or licensure. CaRMS gives this in answer to applicants who cannot apply to Quebec's regular stream because they have a fellowship.

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 provinces answer this differently, so read the second-iteration criteria for the province and the program description of the exact position.

Tied to the person (any IMG who matches owes ROS): Ontario and Manitoba. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI say so explicitly: "Unfilled CMG positions in the first iteration require an ROS in the second iteration if filled by an IMG candidate."

Tied to the position: in British Columbia all unfilled positions blend into one stream, and "Second iteration program descriptions will indicate whether a position requires a Return of Service commitment." BC links ROS to the stream a participant matches to and has no ROS on CMG stream positions, but no official text states outright that a former CMG position filled by an IMG is ROS-free, so the program description is the document to check. In Newfoundland and Labrador, ROS follows positions that came from the IMG family medicine or internal medicine streams, whoever fills them. In Saskatchewan, only IMGs who match to family medicine, internal medicine or psychiatry in the second iteration sign an agreement.

Alberta has no provincial ROS in either iteration. In Quebec only the New Brunswick-funded positions carry one.

Official source: CaRMS: British Columbia, second iteration Checked 2026-09-29

• CaRMS: Ontario, second iteration
• CaRMS: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI, second iteration
• CaRMS: Newfoundland and Labrador, second iteration
• CaRMS: Saskatchewan, second iteration
• CaRMS: What is a return of service (ROS) agreement?
• CaRMS: Manitoba, second iteration
• CaRMS: Alberta, second iteration
• CaRMS: Quebec, second iteration

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

Yes. If you take part in the second iteration of a match, your application information and documents from the first iteration remain in your account for use in the second iteration. You can update or add content in the "My Information" sections, and update or add documents.

The documents in your CaRMS Online account, and most of your application data, also remain available for use in a future match. The only exception is the Casper and FMProC score.

CaRMS does not require documents to be re-uploaded or re-submitted unless you have an updated version. In that case, find the old document under "My Documents -> Document Tracking" and upload the new one to replace it.

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 post-match process lets applicants who did not match in the current cycle's previous iterations apply to programs that are still considering applications. Programs are not obligated to take part.

Who can take part, and how

You must have participated in either the first or the second iteration of the current year's match; an applicant who applied in the first iteration but not the second is eligible. If you are eligible, log into your CaRMS Online account, go to My Application - Match Participation, select the post-match process and click PARTICIPATE.

Quotas

Unlike the first and second iterations of the R-1 Main Residency Match, programs in the PMP are not obligated to enter a quota. It is up to each program whether to include it.

Quebec programs

If Quebec programs do not appear when you search with the ADD PROGRAMS button in the Applications to programs section, it means you are not eligible to apply to them.

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 can re-apply next year if you still meet all the eligibility requirements. Once it opens next year, simply log in and participate to the match once more.

Official source: CaRMS help centre Updated by CaRMS 2025-05-06

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