International medical graduate (IMG)

Before you can obtain a letter of recognition of equivalence from the CMQ, your M.D. degree must be source verified on physiciansapply.ca. No provisional attestation will be accepted.

To find out more, please visit the Medical Council of Canada website, in the Examinations
section.

To obtain recognition of equivalence of your medical degree, the CMQ does not require knowledge of French. We invite you to contact the faculties of medicine to find out about their residency admission requirements. For further information, we invite you to read the Connaissance du français page on the CMQ website.

Training in aesthetic medicine is available only to physicians with a valid permit to practice in Quebec. For more information, please visit our website.

M.D. degrees issued by French universities are automatically recognized under the Quebec-France agreement.

To take advantage of the Quebec-France agreement, candidates must hold a state Doctor of Medicine degree and a diploma in specialized studies issued by a French university.

Applicants for a restrictive permit must pass the OQLF examination within 24 months, calculated from the date the application is submitted. Applicants may be exempted from the exam if they are in one of the situations listed in section 35 of the Charter of the French Language.

Exemption from fellowship is an exceptional measure granted to candidates for a restrictive permit who demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the CMQ's Committee on Admission to Practice (CAP), that they have successfully completed a fellowship of at least 3 months of training in a Canadian university accredited by either the Collège des médecins du Québec, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

The Collège is responsible for identifying and coordinating assessment periods. Any personal approach is to be avoided, as it refers to the appearance of conflict or conflict of interest. Candidates are invited to maintain their professional practice until the assessment period has been confirmed.

The entire process takes an average of 9 to 18 months.