Medical doctors: immigration and licensing, step by step.

Immigration and medical licensing are separate

Since late 2025, IRCC has offered three measures for internationally trained medical doctors: an Express Entry category for physicians with Canadian work experience, up to 5,000 federal immigration spaces reserved for provinces and territories to nominate doctors, and 14-day work-permit processing for doctors who have been nominated by a province or territory.

None of these measures lets a person practise medicine. Before working as a doctor in Canada you must have your foreign credentials assessed and obtain a licence from the medical regulatory authority of the province or territory where you will work. IRCC notes that both steps can take time, so they should start early.

IRCC reports that 31% of family physicians in Canada were internationally trained in 2024, that one in four health care workers is an immigrant, and that more than 11,000 health care workers arrived through economic immigration programs in 2024.

Doctors with Canadian work experience

If you are in Canada, extend your work permit before it expires while you wait for an invitation. If you are outside Canada, you need a job offer to apply for a work permit. After an Express Entry invitation, the permanent-residence application must be submitted within 60 days. A spouse or common-law partner, dependent children and dependent grandchildren can be included.

Doctors without Canadian work experience

If you have no Canadian medical experience, or it is more than 3 years old, IRCC points to these routes. Credential assessment and licensing apply to all of them.

14-day work-permit processing after nomination

A doctor nominated through a PNP can ask for faster processing of a work permit, so they can start working while the permanent-residence application is processed. You do not need to have applied for permanent residence yet. You may qualify if you:

• apply online and submit a complete application with all forms, documents and fees (the work permit fee is $155)
• have a full-time, non-seasonal job offer in NOC 31100 (specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine), 31101 (specialists in surgery) or 31102 (general practitioners and family physicians); IRCC warns that the wrong NOC can make you ineligible
• include a valid letter of support from the nominating province or territory
• include the employer documents: employment contract or proof of employment, the offer of employment number, the LMIA exemption code T13 and proof that the employer paid the employer compliance fee
• include upfront medical exam results, plus police certificates where the visa office requires them and certified translations of documents not in English or French
• give biometrics within 2 weeks of receiving the biometric instruction letter, if biometrics are needed (the fee starts at $85 per person)
• meet the general work-permit requirements, whether you apply from inside or outside Canada

Processing starts once IRCC confirms the application is complete and biometrics, if required, have been given. Family members outside Canada can also get faster processing if they apply together with you. Faster processing is not a guarantee of approval.

Key issues to verify

• Credential recognition and the exact licensing pathway in the province or territory where you plan to practise
• Eligibility for an underlying Express Entry program before relying on the physicians category
• At least 12 months of full-time Canadian work as a doctor in the last 3 years, for the dedicated category
• The correct physician NOC, lead statement and main duties
• The job, job offer, letter of support, nomination, designated-employer offer or community recommendation your route requires
• Language results, education or ECA, recent work experience, proof of funds or an exemption, admissibility and your plan to live in the selected province or community
• Which family members you will include in the permanent-residence application

A practical sequence

1. Start credential recognitionHave your medical credentials assessed and contact the medical regulator in your intended province or territory. Licensing can take a long time.
2. Sort your experienceDecide whether you fall under the "Canadian experience" or the "no Canadian experience" routes, using IRCC's two pathway pages.
3. Confirm the underlying programCheck every minimum requirement: NOC, work period, language results, education documents, funds and location, before creating a profile or accepting an offer.
4. Get route-specific supportSecure the job offer, provincial nomination or letter of support, designated-employer offer, endorsement or community recommendation your route needs.
5. Apply for permanent residenceSubmit a complete federal application and include eligible family members with consistent identity, relationship and admissibility documents.
6. Use faster work-permit processing if eligibleIf nominated, check the NOC, offer, support-letter and completeness rules, including the upfront medical exam and timely biometrics.

Important points

• Medical licensing and immigration selection are separate decisions. Permanent residence alone does not allow you to practise medicine.
• The physicians category still requires eligibility for one of the three Express Entry programs.
• The 5,000 PNP spaces are an allocation to provinces and territories. They are not automatic approvals and not a direct federal application stream.
• Fourteen-day processing is a faster-processing measure for complete, eligible applications. It does not guarantee approval.
• Quebec does not have a PNP and uses its own selection and medical-licensing systems.
• Do not rely on fixed processing times. Check IRCC's official processing times tool.

Official sources

• IRCC: Live and work as a medical doctor in Canada
• IRCC: Doctors with experience in Canada
• IRCC: Doctors without Canadian medical work experience
• IRCC: Faster work permit processing for doctors
• IRCC: Express Entry category-based selection
• IRCC: High-wage occupations in Express Entry
• Government of Canada: Foreign credential recognition
• IRCC: Check processing times

This page is general information about Canadian immigration law and policy as of the date above. It is not legal advice for your situation. Programs, forms and fees change often; check the official sources before you apply.