Back-to-school activity is sweeping Canadian medical education as a host of new programs, facilities and policy tweaks begin shaping the 2026‑27 academic year, with the spotlight on expanding capacity and reshaping entry rules.
New medical schools open in British Columbia and Ontario
Simon Fraser University’s Stephens Family School of Medicine in Surrey welcomed its inaugural cohort of 48 students, marking the first new medical school in Western Canada in almost six decades. The three‑year program emphasizes primary‑care training and will grow to about 120 seats annually by 2035.
Classes are currently held in a temporary space linked to a mall and office tower, while construction of a dedicated campus is slated to begin this year with a projected opening in fall 2030.
At the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, a new health‑training hub opened its doors to the first batch of nurse‑practitioner, physician‑assistant and physical‑therapy students. The medical student cohort is slated for the following year, reflecting an interprofessional approach aimed at bolstering health‑care capacity in the eastern Greater Toronto Area.
Two schools that launched last year are now admitting a second class: Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Medicine in Brampton and the joint MD program between the University of Prince Edward Island and Memorial University in Charlottetown. Both are scaling up enrollment as they settle into their respective regions.
York University’s School of Medicine will admit its first class in 2028, supported by $55.8 million in provincial funding announced last summer to cover planning and operational costs.
Admission reforms and funding shifts in Ontario
The 2026‑27 intake is the first affected by Ontario’s new in‑province preference rule, which obliges all publicly funded medical schools to reserve 95 % of seats for Ontario residents, leaving a modest 5 % for applicants from other provinces and none for international students.
Simultaneously, the province introduced the Learn and Stay Grant for Medical Education, covering tuition and direct expenses for family‑medicine residents who commit to five years of full primary‑care practice within Ontario.
In a separate development, the provincial government halted a policy that would have barred international medical graduates (IMGs) from applying in the first round of residency matching unless they completed at least two years of high school in Ontario. The court’s injunction in December stopped the rule, and a rescission followed in March, allowing the 2027 CaRMS cycle to proceed unchanged. Health Minister Sylvia Jones, however, indicated intentions to embed a revised version of the restriction into legislation.
Looking ahead, the pressure on residency slots may intensify as more graduates from the expanding schools enter the job market, potentially prompting the province to revisit the balance between resident supply and health‑system needs. The evolving funding setting suggests that future allocations could be tied to performance metrics or regional health priorities, though definitive details remain to be outlined.
Updated physician competency framework
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons announced the final draft of the CanMEDS framework for 2026, concluding a five‑year revision process.
