Welcome to the Match
Your match year is an important part of your career journey, and CaRMS is here to help you every step of the way.
We’ve produced two video presentations to give you a general overview of what you can expect in each phase of your match year—one for Canadian medical graduates (CMGs), and one for international medical graduates (IMGs). Click one of the buttons below to get started.
Eligibility
Your first step before participating in the match should be to make sure to review the eligibility criteria to ensure you are eligible in the provinces in which you want to train.
Your CaRMS contract
You must agree to the applicant contract to participate in a CaRMS match. Read this document carefully, as it outlines your obligations, as well as those of CaRMS, throughout the match process.
Match Violations Policy
The Match Violations Policy is how the obligations set out in the match contract are enforced. Before you get started in the match, review the policy and find out how all match participants can do their part to keep it safe and fair for everyone.
First iteration
The R-1 Main Residency Match (R-1 match) is run in two phases, called iterations. If you are an eligible current or prior year graduate from a Canadian, American or international medical school with no prior postgraduate training in Canada or the US, you can participate in the first iteration of the match. If you have any prior postgraduate training in Canada or the US, you can only participate in the second iteration.
Positions in the first iteration are generally divided into two streams – a CMG stream for graduates of Canadian and American medical schools, and an IMG stream for graduates of international medical schools.
Second iteration
If you participate in the first iteration and go unmatched, you can apply to unfilled positions in the second iteration of the match. This iteration is also for applicants with prior postgraduate training in Canada or the US, and is sometimes used as a transfer mechanism for residents currently in training.
The second iteration follows the same structure as the first iteration, but on a more compressed schedule. The biggest change in the second iteration is that in some provinces positions become competitive, meaning that CMGs and IMGs compete for the same positions, which is not the case in first iteration where the streams are separate.
Withdrawing from the match
You can withdraw from the match through CaRMS Online until the rank order list deadline found in the applicant timeline. Withdrawing from the match removes your application from all programs. In other words, you are no longer participating in the match.
After you have withdrawn, you can reinstate your application as long as you do so before the rank order list deadline by contacting CaRMS at operations@carms.ca.
You can withdraw individual program applications up until file review opens. You will receive a program credit to apply to another program within the same iteration. Program credits do not carry over to future iterations.
