Record number of students choose family medicine in Quebec

Slowly but surely, Quebec is succeeding in attracting more and more family medicine students.

Of the 923 future residents who were matched into the regular contingent, more than half chose family medicine from among the 60 specialties offered in Quebec.

This is according to data from the Canadian Resident Matching Service, released Thursday. Better known by its acronym CaRMS, this data shows that 484 future physicians chose family medicine in Quebec, 26 more than last year.

However, this specialty remains the one with the most vacancies. Despite progress, Quebec continues to be the province with the most difficulty filling positions to train family physicians. Following the results of the second round of CaRMS, a total of 118 positions remained vacant across Canada. Of these, 94 were in family medicine, including 69 in Quebec.

The Fédération des médecins résidents du Québec (FMRQ) is nonetheless pleased with the increase observed in family medicine. It emphasizes that “unfilled family medicine residency positions are a reality that was anticipated when determining the number of available positions.” The Federation explains that maintaining a higher number of family medicine positions allows for more front-line physicians.

Regions are popular

Quebec’s medical faculties note several positive aspects in the results, including the fact that there is an increased presence in the regions. This year, 154 future physicians chose to complete their residencies outside major urban centers.

“This is the largest cohort of future family physicians ever trained in Quebec, a significant milestone in meeting the growing needs in primary care, particularly in regions experiencing service shortages,” Quebec’s four medical faculties (Université Laval, McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke) stated in a press release released Thursday.

In an effort to attract recruits to family medicine, faculties have implemented measures in recent years, including increasing exposure to this specialty during university studies and increasing mentoring opportunities.

Furthermore, to address the physician shortage, the government decided in 2022 to increase medical school cohorts across Quebec. Faculties state that they will need government support to accommodate the increased cohorts (expected to begin in 2028).

FMRQ President Dr. Ghassen Soufi is optimistic about the future. “While we await the full impact of these concrete solutions through increased medical school admissions, we must continue to find ways to equitably distribute the insufficient number of new physicians among the various medical specialties and across Quebec. However, we are very close to the point where we will have an optimal number of residency graduates entering independent practice,” he commented in a written statement.

For his part, Dominique Dorion, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke and President of the Conférence des Doyens des Facultés de Médecine des Universités du Québec, considers the results very encouraging. “They demonstrate not only the sustained interest in family medicine, but also the success of our concerted efforts to promote this essential specialty. We are particularly proud to see a strong presence in the regions, a goal we are pursuing with conviction,” he said in a press release.

Resident physicians will begin their postgraduate training in Quebec on July 1st.

Matching Graduates Outside Canada

Across Canada, a total of 3,873 positions were filled at the end of the matching process, representing 97.6 per cent of all available positions. This is the largest cohort of physicians ever recorded across the country.

This year’s total number of positions includes 851 medical graduates from outside Canada and the United States (MGDs) and eight American medical graduates (AMDs). The number of IMGs matched in 2025 has increased significantly compared to the 671 graduates last year and the 555 in 2023.

Additionally, additional positions were introduced during the second round at the request of Quebec’s medical schools. For the first time, these schools offered special quota positions through CaRMS, including for candidates who completed their medical training outside Canada. Some twenty special quota positions were filled during the second round of matching, including four in family medicine.

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–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews

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