Nanaimo - Family Medicine

University of British ColumbiaNanaimo, British ColumbiaIMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPPContacts

CaRMS program description, 2027 match, last approved 17 Sep 2026 · See the 2026 version

2027 match programs, from CaRMS as of 5 Oct 2026. Programs can still change until file review opens 26 November; we re-check every two weeks. Always confirm on CaRMS (opens in a new tab).

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 2 years
Stream: IMG
Discipline: Family Medicine
Applications per year: 201–400
Applicants offered interviews: 51–75%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 36471

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

Summary

This is a 2-year UBC family medicine residency site based in Nanaimo, a regional service centre on central Vancouver Island.
Each resident is connected with a family practice clinic, follows a patient panel over both years, and completes a mandatory 2-month rural rotation in second year.
Residents attend 6 academic weeks per year and must complete a quality improvement project and a scholar project; the IMG stream carries a Return of Service obligation.

Training

Setting

Regional community
Rural / remote

Sites

Not stated on CaRMS page

Rural exposure

Required rural rotation

Research

Required · research or quality-improvement project

Enhanced skills

Emergency Medicine
Care of the Elderly
Anesthesia
Palliative Care
Sport and Exercise Medicine
Clinician Scholar / Research
Other

Highlights

Academic teaching delivered in full academic weeks, with no rotation or call duties during them.
Participates in UBC's Indigenous Home Territory Selection Pathway for ranking Indigenous applicants from local Nations.

By year

PGY-1

Internal Medicine5 weeks
ICU4 weeks
Surgery4 weeks
Palliative Care4 weeks
Musculoskeletal2 weeks

PGY-2

Hospitalist4 weeks
Electives1-3 weeks
Proceduralist Service2 weeks

From the program's rotation list.

Other rotations

Listed by the program without a single PGY year.

Family Practice (39 weeks · including one full day in FM during all non-FM experiences)
Emergency (4 in R1 and 4 in R2 · 8 weeks)
Obstetrics/Gynecology (6 in R1 and 4 in R2 · 10 weeks)
Pediatrics (4 weeks in R2 year & 2 weeks in R1 · 6 weeks)
Mental Health & Addiction (4 in R1 (2 in Addiction & 2 in Acute) and 4 in R2 (Long Term Management) · 8 weeks)

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

Required · this stream

IMG requirements

Assessment by a provincial clinical assessment program

Applications per year

201–400

Applicants offered interviews

51–75%

Interviews

Dates (2027 match)

16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 26 Jan 2027

Mode

Virtual

Format

MMI or rotating station

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

Info sessions

Info sessions planned, dates not published yet.

From the program’s CaRMS page (opens in a new tab), read 1 Oct 2026. Dates and times are as the program wrote them, not converted to your time zone. Programs add and change sessions: confirm with the program.

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 2 Sep 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Salaries from April 2027.

Annual salary by PGY level, British Columbia
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$71,390 / year
PGY-2	$79,571 / year

One provincial scale for British Columbia, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 2 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
CMPA dues paid: Yes. Mandatory
Dental plan: 100% Premiums Paid
Educational leave: Yes
Extended health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Frequency of calls: 1 in 4 onsite/1 in 3 offsite
Life insurance: 100% Premium Paid
Long-term disability insurance: Yes 100% Premiums Paid
Maternity leave: 17 weeks, plus up to 78 weeks Parental Leave
Meal allowance: No
Provincial dues (% of salary): 1.5%
Provincial health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Sick leave: Yes
Statutory holidays: 2 x pay plus extra day with pay

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.

RDBC agreement, 1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2029.

Teaching sites

Not stated on CaRMS page

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

residency@familymed.ubc.ca

Shared by Jialin (Lydia) Chen · Program and Learning Development Manager and Alexandria Miller · Education Coordinator

Program directors

Dr. Sarah McCorquodale
Dr. Flora Wong

CaRMS lists no email for the directors.

Site staffdirectors and coordinators at the teaching sites

Lisa Ripka
Site Coordinator
Lisa.ripka@islandhealth.ca
Dr. Meredith Borbandy
Co-Site Director
meredith.borbandy@ubc.ca
Dr. Shelly Chopra
Co-Site Director
shelly.chopra@ubc.ca

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

Location

Nanaimo, British Columbia

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 Vancouver International (Airport), 58.4 km away (more than 50 km, so it may differ from the city)
July average: 18.2 °C Vancouver International (Airport), 58.4 km away (more than 50 km, so it may differ from the city)
Snowfall: 36.6 cm a year Vancouver International (Airport), 58.4 km away (more than 50 km, so it may differ from the city)
Days below −20 °C: 0.0 days a year Vancouver International (Airport), 58.4 km away (more than 50 km, so it may differ from the city)

People

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

Population: 99,863 people up 10.3% from 2016
Official languages: English only 92.5% · French only 0.0% · English and French 6.8% · neither 0.7% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 16.1% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 2.3% · non-permanent residents: 1.9%
Indigenous identity: 8.2% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 86.8% · public transit 4.0% · walking or cycling 6.6% · other 2.6% Average commute: 19.1 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: $75,500 before tax $68,500 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: Nanaimo, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 106,079 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.153 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: not published October 2025 survey, Nanaimo, British Columbia (census agglomeration). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $59,363 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, British Columbia, population 100,000 to 499,999, 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: 5.3% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Nanaimo, British Columbia (census metropolitan area); standard error 1.7 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 general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Vancouver Island and Coast region for the 2025-2027 period.
Canada-wide, to 2033: Strong risk of Shortage ESDC’s projection for general practitioners and family physicians, 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 34-10-0131-01. 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 6 Oct 2026.