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Halifax - Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology

Dalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova ScotiaCMG stream

Program websiteWebsiteCANPREPPCANPREPP
Open on carms.ca(opens in a new tab)

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 24 Oct 2025

From the 2026 match (R-1 2026). See the 2027 version

Positions (approx. quota)
1 position
Length
5 years
Stream
CMG
Discipline
Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology
Applications per year
0–50
Applicants offered interviews
76–100%
Accreditation
Accredited
CaRMS program ID
29254

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

Summary

Dalhousie University offers a dynamic 5-year Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology residency program based at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. The program provides comprehensive training across multiple pathology subspecialties, emphasizing a collegial learning environment with abundant case volumes and diverse clinical experiences.

Training

Research
Residents are required to complete at least one research project, with financial support for conference presentations and dedicated research methods training.
Training setting
Urban academic medical center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with training sites across multiple hospitals in the Maritime provinces including Halifax, Dartmouth, and Saint John, NB.
Teaching approach
Structured, competency-based medical education with progressive independence, emphasizing one-on-one supervision, comprehensive curriculum, and tailored learning experiences.
Setting types
  • Academic medical center
  • Tertiary care center
  • Community hospital
Focus areas
  • Diagnostic Pathology
  • Molecular Pathology
  • Surgical Pathology
  • Autopsy Pathology
  • Forensic Pathology
  • Pediatric Pathology
  • Cytopathology
  • Neuropathology
Patient populations
  • Hospital autopsy patients
  • Pediatric patients
  • Forensic cases
  • Surgical pathology patients
  • Cytology patients
  • Neuropathology patients
Highlights
  • Competency By Design (CBD) training system
  • Academic half day every Wednesday
  • Research project requirement
  • Conference presentation funding
  • Multihead teaching microscopes
  • Research methods course
  • Resident research coordinator
  • Flexible elective time
Strengths
  • Excellent research infrastructure
  • High Royal College exam success rate
  • Diverse subspecialty exposure
  • Strong community and academic training balance
  • Comprehensive resident support
Enhanced skills
  • Medical Education
  • Leadership
  • Community Pathology Practice

By year

PGY-1
  • Foundations of Diagnostic and Molecular PathologyQEII and Saint John, NB3 blocks
  • Transition to DisciplineQEII Health Sciences Centre1 month
  • Clinical Hematology1 block
  • General Surgery1 block
  • Surgical Selective1 block
  • Radiation Oncology1 block
  • Gynecological Oncology1 block
  • Medical Oncology1 block
  • Subspecialty Pediatrics1 block
  • Selective1 block
  • Autopsy PathologyForensic Institute1 block
PGY-2
  • Surgical and Autopsy PathologyQEII Health Sciences Centre15 months
  • Community RotationMaritime provinces1 month
  • Lymph Node Pathology
  • Molecular Pathology
PGY-3
  • Neuropathology12 weeks
  • Cytopathology12 weeks
  • Pediatric Pathology12 weeks
  • Biomarker Rotation
PGY-4
  • Senior Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology6 blocks
  • Community Diagnostic and Molecular PathologySaint John, NB3 blocks
  • Forensic PathologyNova Scotia Medical Examiner Service8 weeks
  • Senior Cytopathology1 block
  • Cardiac/Liver/Kidney Biopsy1 block
PGY-5
  • Medical Education or Leadership Elective1 block
  • Subspecialty Anatomical Pathology Electives

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

What the program looks at
  • Academic record
  • Communication skills
  • Reference letters
  • Personal letter
  • Interview performance
  • Research/leadership experience
Applications per year
0–50
Applicants offered interviews
76–100%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match)
27 and 28 Jan 2026

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

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 24 Jul 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual salary by PGY level, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-1
$78,578 / year
PGY-2
$83,904 / year
PGY-3
$89,462 / year
PGY-4
$95,485 / year
PGY-5
$101,926 / year

One provincial scale for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 5 levels this program covers.

Benefits

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

Annual vacation
4 weeks
Call stipend
Yes
CMPA dues paid
Yes
Dental coverage
Yes
Educational leave
Yes
Extended health insurance
Yes
Frequency of call
l in 4 in-hospital and for homecall
Life insurance
$100,000 of insurance
Long-term disabilityinsurance
66.7% of salary
Maternity leave top up after one year’s service
eligible for up to a maximum of 17 weeks top-up allowance for maternity/pregnancy leave
Provincial dues (% of salary)
1.30%
Provincial health insurance
Yes
Sick leave
Yes
Statutory and floating holidays
paid

Call

Call (provincial max)
1 night 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.

MarDocs agreement, 1 Jul 2024 to 30 Jun 2027.

Teaching sites

  • QEII Health Sciences Centre
  • IWK Health Centre
  • NS Medical Examiners Office
  • Saint John Regional Hospital

Hospital facts

Public figures for hospitals named above, each with its source and reference period. They describe the hospital, not the program, and are not a ranking. We match names to the province’s lists by name, so check each source before you rely on it.

QEII Health Sciences Centre

This name covers 2 hospitals in the province’s lists. Each is shown on its own, A to Z, and the numbers are never added together.

QEII - Halifax Infirmary Site (Halifax)
Hospital type
Tertiary As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.
QEII - Victoria General (VG) Site (Halifax)
Hospital type
Tertiary As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.

IWK Health Centre

Matched to IWK Health Centre (Halifax) in the province’s hospital list.

Hospital type
Tertiary As the province lists it. The list has no volumes or beds.

Saint John Regional Hospital

Matched to Saint John Regional Hospital / Hôpital Régional de Saint John (Saint John) in the province’s hospital list.

Inpatient beds
445 As listed in the province’s dataset, whose rows were last updated 24 Apr 2019; the count may be older.

Sources and licences

  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – New Brunswick.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Nova Scotia.

Unfilled positions in past years

Open after round 1 in 2 of 8 years (2019–2026); still open after round 2 in 0 of 9 years.

Positions at this site, all streams. Site as CaRMS lists it: Halifax.

Positions at this site, all streams, still open after round 1 and after round 2, by year. Each count above zero links to the CaRMS list page it comes from.
YearOpen after round 1Open after round 2
2018not available0
20191 position open after round 1 in 2019, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)0
202000
202100
202200
202300
202400
202500
20261 position open after round 1 in 2026, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)0

CaRMS’s first-round list for 2018 was not found, so round 1 is counted over 8 years and round 2 over 9.

A position can go unfilled because of where the site is, because it is open to IMGs only or to another restricted stream, or because the quota changed late. It says nothing about the quality of the training. Verify with the CaRMS lists. Source: CaRMS’s lists of positions open after round 1 and after round 2, as read in October 2026 (latest: 2026 round 1 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab), 2026 round 2 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab)). A site’s numbers are shown when it had positions open after round 1 in at least 2 of 8 years or at least 3 in one year.

Contacts

Contacts weren't collected for the 2026 match.

The current program director and contacts are on the 2027 version of this program and on the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab).

Location

Halifax, Nova Scotia

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
−4.1 °C Shearwater, 11.0 km away
July average
18.5 °C Shearwater, 11.0 km away
Snowfall
215.2 cm a year Halifax Stanfield (Airport), 20.9 km away
Days below −20 °C
0.9 days a year Shearwater, 11.0 km away

People

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

Population
439,819 people up 9.1% from 2016
Official languages
English only 87.1% · French only 0.1% · English and French 12.2% · neither 0.6% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants
11.6% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 4.1% · non-permanent residents: 3.9%
Indigenous identity
3.8% of residents
How people commute
car, truck or van 81.5% · public transit 8.1% · walking or cycling 8.0% · other 2.4% Average commute: 21.4 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
$81,000 before tax $69,500 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
Halifax, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 348,634 people in 2021
Remoteness index
0.199 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
2.6% October 2025 survey, Halifax, Nova Scotia (census metropolitan area). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living
$54,855 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 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
5.8% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Halifax, Nova Scotia (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.5 points. A survey estimate.

Job outlook

Employment and Social Development Canada’s rating for the occupation in the economic region. It is not a count of jobs, and says nothing about CaRMS positions or your match.

Outlook, 2025–2027
Very good The employment outlook will be Very good for specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (NOC 31100) in the Halifax region for the 2025-2027 period.
Canada-wide, to 2033
Strong risk of Shortage ESDC’s projection for specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine, 2024–2033. Recent conditions, 2021–2023: Strong signs of Shortage.

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.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada, Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS), 2024 to 2033 projections).
  • Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020).
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada, 3-Year Employment Outlooks).
  • 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 5 Oct 2026.