Skip to content
CdnMD

Calgary - Family Medicine - Palliative Care

University of CalgaryCalgary, AlbertaCompetitive stream

Enhanced skills (FM/ES) match

Family medicine residents applying for a PGY-3 year (the "+1").

Contacts and 7 more links
Open on carms.ca(opens in a new tab)

CaRMS program description, FM/ES 2027 match, last approved 21 Jul 2026

Positions (approx. quota)
3 positions
Length
1 year
Stream
Competitive
Discipline
Family Medicine - Palliative Care
Applications per year
51–200
Applicants offered interviews
51–75%
Accreditation
Accredited
CaRMS program ID
34580

Bands are 5-year averages the program reports to CaRMS. They describe past cycles, not your odds.

Summary

  • This 1-year enhanced skills program trains family physicians in palliative care.
  • Training takes place at Calgary hospitals and hospices, including the Foothills Medical Centre intensive palliative care unit, plus a rural consultation team block.
  • Residents complete a scholarly project with a dedicated block and 12 half days of protected time.

Training

Setting
  • Academic / tertiary hospital
  • Rural / remote
  • Urban community
Sites

12 teaching sites

  • Foothills Medical Centre
  • Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre
  • Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre
Show all 12
  • Peter Lougheed Hospital
  • Rockyview General Hospital
  • South Health Campus
  • Rosedale Hospice
  • Agape Hospice
  • Southwood Hospice
  • Dulcina Hospice
  • Chinook Hospice
  • Skypointe Hospice
Rural exposure
Required rural rotation
Research
Required · research or quality-improvement project · protected time
Training language
English
Highlights
  • Emphasis on non-malignant palliative care, with about 43% of consultations for non-malignant disease.
  • Resident-designed wellness retreat in the Rockies, funded by the program.

By year

Not stated on CaRMS page

Other rotations

Listed by the program without a single year.

  • Hospital Consultation Team Junior (1 block)
  • Intensive Palliative Care Unit Junior (2 blocks)
  • Home Care (1 block)
  • Outpatient Malignant Clinics (Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Gyne Oncology, Dyspnea Clinic, Lymphedema Clinic and Cancer Pain Clinic) (1 block)
  • Scholarly Project (1 block)
  • Calgary Zone Rural Consultation Team (Home Care Rural) (1 block)
  • Outpatient Non-Malignant Clinics (End Stage Clinics- cardiology, nephrology, respirology, motor neuron disease clinic, and COPD community care visits) (1 block)
  • Hospital Consultation Team Senior (1 block)
  • Intensive Palliative Care Unit Senior (1 block)
  • Home Care + Hospice (1 block)
  • Electives (2 blocks)

Selection

Application file components
  • CV
  • Electives
  • Examinations
  • Extra-curricular
  • Leadership skills
  • MSPRs
  • Personal letters
  • Reference documents
  • Research/Publications
  • Transcripts
  • Other file component(s)
Return of service
Not stated on CaRMS page
Applications per year
51–200
Applicants offered interviews
51–75%

Interviews

Dates (FM/ES 2027 match)
13 Oct 2026
Mode
Virtual
Format
  • Panel

Programs can change interview dates. Confirm on carms.ca.

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 22 Jul 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual salary by PGY level, Alberta
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-3
$80,058 / year

One provincial scale for Alberta, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing PGY-3, the level FM/ES residents usually start at. Yours depends on your training so far.

Benefits

Benefits as listed by CaRMS in 2022–2024; check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual vacation
4 weeks/yr
Call Stipends
weekday in-house –  $118.02weekend in-house / holiday – $178.72weekday home call – $59.01weekend home call / holiday – $89.35
CMPA dues paid
$1,500
Dental plan
75% premium paid
Educational leave
14 days paid leave
Extended health insurance
75% premium paid$1000 per year Flexible Spending Account*
Frequency of calls
In-house call: 7/28. 2/4 weekend call.Home call: 9/28. 2/4 weekend call**A Resident scheduled on Home call but who is required to work more than four hours in hospital during the call period, of which more than one full hour is past 12:00 a.m. and before 6:00 a.m., or more than six (6) hours in hospital during the call period, shall be remunerated at the rate for In-House call.$100 per day for each scheduled weekend day of patient rounds when not on-call
Life insurance
100% towards $150,000 coverage
Life Support Course Costs (Program Approved
100% paid
Long-term disability insurance
100% paid for 75% gross income
Maternity Leave
18 weeks total (17 weeks paid to match 90% of salary when combined with EI)
Parental Leave
2 weeks leave with full pay and benefits;52 weeks (inclusive of Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leaves) – unpaid leave
Practice Stipend
$1,500
Provincial dues (% of salary)
.95%
Sick leave
Up to 3 months or to end contract paid leave, whichever occurs first
Statutory holidays
Paid days. Additional days off are given if resident works the day before and part of a named holiday.

Call

Call (provincial max)
1 in 4 in-house

The union agreement’s cap for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. Check with the program.

PARA agreement, 1 Jul 2024 to 30 Jun 2028.

Teaching sites

  • Foothills Medical Centre (Calgary)
  • Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Calgary)
  • Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre (Calgary)
  • Peter Lougheed Hospital (Calgary)
  • Rockyview General Hospital (Calgary)
  • South Health Campus (Calgary)
  • Rosedale Hospice (Calgary)
  • Agape Hospice (Calgary)
  • Southwood Hospice (Calgary)
  • Dulcina Hospice (Calgary)
  • Chinook Hospice (Calgary)
  • Skypointe Hospice (Calgary)

Hospital facts

Hospital size and activity: Alberta doesn't publish this as open data.

Contacts

Grouped by the titles CaRMS lists. The program office (administrators and coordinators) usually answers questions about the program and applying; the director leads the training.

Program officeadministrators and coordinators

Please contact first.

fmr3@ucalgary.ca

Ms. Luz Bolo · Program Administrator

403 955 9240

Program directors

Please contact first.

  • Dr. Ronald Garnett

Per CaRMS. Staff change during the cycle, so check the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab) before emailing.

More links

Links the program published on CaRMS

Location

Calgary, Alberta

Loading amenities…

About the city

Public statistics for the place named by this program’s location label, each with its source and reference period. They describe the place, not the program, and are not a ranking. Check each source before you rely on it.

Climate

Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020. Each value comes from the nearest weather station that reports it, not from the city itself.

January average
−7.6 °C Calgary (Airport), 9.0 km away
July average
16.9 °C Calgary (Airport), 9.0 km away
Snowfall
138.7 cm a year Calgary (Airport), 9.0 km away
Days below −20 °C
21.6 days a year Calgary (Airport), 9.0 km away

People

2021 Census. Figures are for the municipality of Calgary, not the metropolitan area. Statistics Canada rounds counts, so small places are approximate.

Population
1,306,784 people up 5.5% from 2016
Official languages
English only 90.8% · French only 0.1% · English and French 6.6% · neither 2.5% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants
33.3% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 6.3% · non-permanent residents: 2.1%
Indigenous identity
3.2% of residents
How people commute
car, truck or van 83.2% · public transit 8.8% · walking or cycling 5.1% · other 2.9% Average commute: 23.9 minutes. Shares are of people who commute.The way Canadians commute was altered in 2021 by the pandemic, with lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19 and changes in how and where Canadians worked leading to 2.8 million fewer commuters, compared with five years earlier. Statistics Canada, The Daily, 30 Nov 2022(opens in a new tab)
Median household income
$98,000 before tax $85,000 after tax · income year 2020, in 2020 dollars

Rural and remote

This describes the place named by the program’s location label. Programs can train in several towns, so it is not every site.

Population centre
Calgary, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 1,305,550 people in 2021
Remoteness index
0.106 0 is least remote, 1 is most remote. Statistics Canada calls this index experimental.

Housing, cost and work

Each figure names the area it covers. A missing line means the source publishes nothing for this area.

Rental vacancy rate
4.9% October 2025 survey, Calgary, Alberta (census metropolitan area). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living
$59,153 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Calgary, Alberta, for two adults with two children. A modest, basic basket (the poverty line), not a resident’s budget. A size-class region is not the town itself.
Unemployment rate
6.3% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Calgary, Alberta (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.5 points. A survey estimate.

Sources and licences

  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Adapted from Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Cartographic Boundary Files.
  • Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey, October 2025 (vacancy rates), and Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0130-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation or Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020).
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Index of Remoteness (17-26-0001), 2021. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0459-01 Labour force characteristics by census metropolitan area, three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted, reference month 2026-09. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0066-01 Market Basket Measure (MBM) thresholds for the reference family by Market Basket Measure region, component and base year, 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0011-01 Population and dwelling counts: Canada and population centres, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0002-01 Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0057-01 Household income statistics by household type: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0173-01 Mother tongue by knowledge of official languages: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0266-01 Indigenous identity by Registered or Treaty Indian status: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0307-01 Immigrant status and period of immigration by place of birth: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0458-01 Main mode of commuting by commuting duration, time leaving for work, age and gender: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, 2021 Census. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

Independent. Not affiliated with CaRMS or the program. Programs edit their descriptions during the match; confirm on carms.ca (opens in a new tab) before you apply. Data last updated on CdnMD 8 Oct 2026.