Psychiatry: the Practice Eligibility Route
Requirements as published by the Royal College. Last reviewed August 2026.
Psychiatry at a glance
- Required time in training
- 5 yearsSTR: Sixty (60) months of approved residency training (5 years)
- 2026 exam timing
- Written in the Spring; Applied in the Spring (same year)
- Apply for assessment of training
- by April 30 of the year before your exam
- Register for the exam
- September 1 – November 4 of the year before
- Exam attempts
- Maximum 4 attempts per component within a 5-year eligibility period
The Royal College reads your postgraduate training and practice record in Psychiatry against the published Specialty Training Requirements. Those requirements are set out in full below, so you can see how your own training compares before you apply.
What licence can I get, and when?
Certification is national. Licensure is provincial. You do not need Royal College certification (FRCPC) to be licensed. Several provinces license you at an earlier PER stage, and the earliest any province accepts is the eligibility letter alone. The table applies to every specialty that reached exam eligibility through the PER.
Full province table: MCCQE, job offer and licence type
| Province | MCCQE | RC written | RC applied | Licence issued | Job offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | Required | Required | Required | Full | Not required |
| British Columbia | Not required | Required | Required | Provisional | Required |
| Saskatchewan | Required | Required | Required | Provisional | Required |
| Manitoba | Not required | Required | Required | Provisional | Required |
| Ontario | Not required | Required | Not required | Provisional, 3 years | Required |
| Nova Scotia (a) | Not required | Not required | Not required | Defined, 6 to 24 months | Required |
| Nova Scotia (b) | Not required | Required | Required | Full | Required |
| New Brunswick | Not required | Not required | Not required | Special, then Defined | Required |
| Newfoundland & Labrador, PEI | Required* | Not required | Not required | Provisional | Required |
* The MCCQE may be waived where the candidate has five or more years of independent practice abroad. Case by case, never guaranteed.
Educational only. Rules change, and each regulator decides on factors that may not be listed here; Filipe Santos MD does not make licensure decisions. Checked October 9, 2026 against each regulator's pages; Ontario confirmed with the CPSO in October 2026. Confirm with the regulator before you act.
Province notes (Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the MCCQE) are in the PER guide.
How training is structured
The Royal College sets out the training for Psychiatry in the blocks below. An internationally trained specialist is assessed on whether their own training and practice record is comparable in structure and content.
Requirements document: 2015, Version 2.0; applies to those who begin training on or after July 1, 2015; approved April 2015
Required experiences7
Specific experiences the Royal College names for this discipline.
- 1.1 Seven (7) to nine (9) blocks of core training composed of: 1.1.1 three (3) blocks of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and/or Pediatrics (max one (1) block of Pediatrics; an Endocrinology experience is strongly recommended); 1.1.2 one (1) block of Neurology and one (1) block of neuroimaging, or two (2) blocks of Neurology; 1.1.3 one (1) block of Emergency Medicine; 1.1.4 one (1) to three (3) blocks of Psychiatry (additional blocks require program director approval)
- 2.1 Twelve (12) months of general adult Psychiatry, roughly equal ambulatory and inpatient time (one continuous block or two 6-month blocks), including longitudinal care of one or more people with severe and persistent psychotic and/or bipolar illness for the duration of the rotation (twelve (12) months preferred)
- 2.2 Six (6) months devoted to the psychiatric care of children, adolescents, and their families (one continuous block or two 3-month blocks)
- 2.3 Six (6) months devoted to the psychiatric care of the elderly and their families (one continuous block or two 3-month blocks)
- 3.1 Twelve (12) months providing complex care to adult patients in general psychiatric practice, including: 3.1.1 consultation and liaison psychiatry (psychosomatic medicine) rotation of no less than three (3) and no more than six (6) months with medically and surgically ill patients; 3.1.2 collaborative/shared care with family physicians, specialists, and other mental health professionals, no less than one (1) month discrete or longitudinal (two (2) months strongly recommended); 3.1.3 severe and persistent mental illness and its rehabilitation, no less than three (3) and no more than six (6) months (may be a Forensic Psychiatry rotation)
- Mandatory horizontal rotation 1: empirically supported psychotherapies, no less than thirty-two (32) weeks or eight (8) months of the PGY2-5 experience, longitudinal, documented and evaluated separately
- Mandatory horizontal rotation 2: supervised addictions treatment, a discrete rotation of no less than one (1) month or longitudinal equivalent of no less than four (4) weeks during PGY2-5, documented and evaluated separately
Flexible or selective components5
Where the requirements allow a choice.
- 1.2 Two (2) to four (4) blocks of selectives from Geriatric Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Neurology, neuroimaging, Family Medicine, Palliative Care, Psychiatry, or research (max two (2) blocks per area; Psychiatry limited to one (1) block)
- 1.3 One (1) block of elective from any medical or surgical rotation, including research
- 3.2 Six (6) months of selectives in Psychiatry, preferably one content area, or two content areas of no less than three (3) months each
- 3.3 Six (6) months of electives (each practice area no less than two (2) months); the selective and elective may contain six (6) months at another approved centre
- Optional horizontal rotations (research, psychotherapies, education, administration and leadership): up to the equivalent of one (1) day per week, with approval
Common questions
More questions about specialists trained abroad, each answered once with its official source, are in the IMG FAQ Center.
What is the Practice Eligibility Route in Psychiatry?
The Practice Eligibility Route (PER) is the Royal College process by which an internationally trained specialist can be assessed for eligibility to sit the certification examination in Psychiatry without repeating a Canadian residency. The Royal College reads your postgraduate training and practice record against the published Specialty Training Requirements for the discipline.
What training does the Royal College expect in Psychiatry?
The Specialty Training Requirements describe sixty (60) months of approved residency training (5 years). The full block-by-block structure is set out on this page, taken from the Royal College document for this discipline.
Does meeting the training requirements guarantee eligibility?
No. Eligibility is a committee decision made on your individual file, and other factors are considered. This page reproduces the published requirements so you can see how your own training compares before you apply; it is not an eligibility ruling.
Where do I start?
Read the seven steps in the PER guide, then have your training mapped against the Specialty Training Requirements before you pay any fees. The free PDF for this specialty carries the steps, the document checklist, and the Psychiatry requirements in one file.
The Psychiatry guide as one PDF
The seven PER steps, your document checklist, and the Psychiatry training requirements in a single file. Free. Not sure the PER is your route? The screener checks your file against every route in about two minutes.
Other specialties27
Canadian clinical fellowships in Psychiatry are in the Fellowship Finder.
Adapted from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Specialty Training Requirements for Psychiatry. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Royal College; every application is reviewed individually and final decisions rest solely with the Royal College. Verify current requirements at royalcollege.ca.