Head and Neck Surgery - Otolaryngology

University of OttawaOttawa, OntarioCMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPP

Open on carms.ca

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 5 Sep 2025

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

Positions (approx. quota): 3 positions
Length: 5 years
Stream: CMG
Discipline: Otolaryngology
Applications per year: 51–200
Applicants offered interviews: 26–50%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 29614

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

Summary

The University of Ottawa offers a comprehensive five-year Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery residency program in the Nation's Capital. The program provides residents with a dynamic, supportive environment featuring high surgical volumes, multidisciplinary training, and extensive clinical exposure across various subspecialties.

Training

Research

Up to three research blocks offered to all residents, with faculty guidance and presentation stipends.

Training setting

Training occurs across four major teaching hospitals in Ottawa, including multiple campuses of The Ottawa Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, with additional exposure to community hospital operating rooms.

Teaching approach

Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) with a focus on progressive independence, early surgical exposure, and comprehensive training across all Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery subspecialties.

Setting types

Academic medical center
Tertiary care center
Pediatric teaching center
Community hospital sites

Focus areas

Cochlear implantation
Pediatric airway management
Adult airway management
Oncology robotics
Skull base surgery
Vertigo care

Patient populations

Adult patients
Pediatric patients
Nunavut residents
Homeless populations
Complex airway patients
Oncology patients

Highlights

Protected academic half days
Research opportunities
Occasional research half days
Nunavut outreach program
Inner city/homeless outreach program
Annual head and neck cancer screening
Surgical simulation courses

Strengths

Fully accredited Royal College program
High surgical volumes
Comprehensive subspecialty training
Strong research infrastructure
Robust outreach curriculum

Enhanced skills

Head & Neck Oncology
Rhinology
Otology-Neurotology
Facial Plastic Surgery
Pediatric Otolaryngology

By year

PGY-1

Surgical FoundationsVarious departmental sitesFull year
Off-service rotationsVarious disciplines9 blocks
ENT rotationsENT departments4 blocks

PGY-2

ICU RotationIntensive Care Unit1 block
Plastic Surgery RotationPlastic Surgery department1 block
ENT RotationsTeaching hospitalsMajority of year

PGY-3

Subspecialty ENT RotationsUniversity of Ottawa hospitalsFull year
Community RotationCommunity practice site1 block
Elective RotationChosen specialty1 block

PGY-4

Otolaryngology Subspecialty RotationsUniversity of Ottawa hospitalsFull year
Chief Resident ResponsibilitiesVarious departmentsFull year
Elective RotationsChosen specialty2 blocks

PGY-5

Head & Neck OncologyOncology departments3 months
Facial Plastic SurgeryPlastic Surgery departments1 month
Pediatric OtolaryngologyChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario1 month
RhinologyENT departmentsPart of year
Otology-NeurotologyENT departmentsPart of year

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

What the program looks at

Academic performance
Scholarly activities
Extracurricular activities
Personal letter
Reference letters
Interview performance

Applications per year

51–200

Applicants offered interviews

26–50%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match): Not stated on CaRMS page

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

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 6 Jan 2025 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Contract expired, may change.

Annual salary by PGY level, Ontario
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$73,367 / year
PGY-2	$79,670 / year
PGY-3	$85,564 / year
PGY-4	$92,701 / year
PGY-5	$98,567 / year

One provincial scale for Ontario, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 5 levels this program covers.

Call

Call (provincial max): 7 nights in 28 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.

PARO agreement, 1 Jul 2023 to 30 Jun 2026. The term has ended; its terms continue until a new agreement is signed.

Teaching sites

Ottawa Hospital - Civic Campus
Ottawa Hospital - General Campus
Ottawa Hospital - Riverside Campus
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)

Hospital facts

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

Unfilled positions in past years

No repeated vacancies in CaRMS’s lists of open positions, 2019–2026.

Positions at this site, all streams.

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

Ottawa, Ontario

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: −9.6 °C Ottawa (City), 5.1 km away
July average: 21.3 °C Ottawa (City), 5.1 km away
Snowfall: 184.5 cm a year Ottawa (City), 5.1 km away
Days below −20 °C: 15.4 days a year Ottawa (City), 5.1 km away

People

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

Population: 1,017,449 people up 8.9% from 2016
Official languages: English only 60.6% · French only 1.4% · English and French 36.4% · neither 1.5% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 25.9% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 4.7% · non-permanent residents: 3.0%
Indigenous identity: 2.6% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 76.8% · public transit 11.2% · walking or cycling 8.6% · other 3.4% Average commute: 23.0 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: $102,000 before tax $88,000 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: Ottawa - Gatineau, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 1,068,821 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.097 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: 2.9% October 2025 survey, Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part, Ontario/Quebec (census agglomeration). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $58,803 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part, Ontario/Quebec, 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: 7.2% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part, Ontario/Quebec (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.8 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: Good The employment outlook will be Good for specialists in surgery (NOC 31101) in the Ottawa region for the 2025-2027 period.
Canada-wide, to 2033: Strong risk of Shortage ESDC’s projection for specialists in surgery, 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.