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Northern Ontario - General Surgery

NOSM UniversityNorthern Ontario, OntarioIMG stream

CaRMS program description, 2027 match, last approved 8 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)
2 positions
Length
5 years
Stream
IMG
Discipline
General Surgery
Applications per year
51–200
Applicants offered interviews
51–75%
Accreditation
Accredited
CaRMS program ID
35820

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

Summary

  • NOSM University's five-year General Surgery program bases residents in Thunder Bay or Sudbury, with rotations across its distributed northern Ontario area.
  • Required foundation rotations include trauma and paediatric surgery in Ottawa.
  • Residents must complete and present at least two research projects, and an Ontario return-of-service commitment applies.

Training

Setting
  • Regional community
  • Academic / tertiary hospital
Sites

Distributed across a region

Rural exposure
Optional rural rotation
Focus areas
  • Northern
  • Indigenous health
  • Francophone minority communities
Research
Required · research project
Getting around
  • Travel is reimbursed
Highlights
  • Academics delivered in three multi-day sessions per year instead of weekly academic half-days.
  • Financial support for travel to core placements away from the home base.

By year

PGY-1
  • General Surgery3 Blocks
PGY-5
  • General Surgery6 Blocks

From the program's rotation list.

Other rotations

Listed by the program without a single PGY year.

  • General Surgery (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 5 Blocks)
  • Emergency Medicine (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 1 Block)
  • Medical Clinical Teaching Unit (MCTU) (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 1 Block)
  • Endoscopy (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 2 Blocks)
  • General Surgery Community (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 3 Blocks)
  • Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 2 Blocks)
  • Trauma (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 1 Block · Ottawa)
  • Paediatric Surgery (Foundations (PGY1 & PGY2) · 2 Blocks · Ottawa)
  • General Surgery (includes Thoracic, Breast, Colorectal, ACS, HPB, Bariatric, TACS) (Core (PGY3 &PGY4) · 21 Blocks)
  • Thoracic and Vascular Surgery (Core (PGY3 &PGY4) · 2 Blocks)
  • Electives (Core (PGY3 &PGY4) · 4 Blocks)
  • General Surgery (Alternative Site) (Core (PGY3 &PGY4) · 8 Blocks)
  • General Surgery Community (Core (PGY3 &PGY4) · 3 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
Required · this stream
IMG requirements
Not stated on CaRMS page
Applications per year
51–200
Applicants offered interviews
51–75%

Interviews

Dates (2027 match)
7 Feb 2027
Mode
Virtual
Format
  • Panel

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 6 Jan 2025 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Contract expired, may change.

Annual salary by PGY level, Ontario
LevelAnnual 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

Not stated on CaRMS page

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: Northern Ontario.

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
201900
202000
202100
202200
202300
20242 positions open after round 1 in 2024, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)0
202500
20262 positions 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

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

tblouin@nosm.ca

Tammy Blouin · Program Coordinator

Program director

  • Dr. Andrew Smith

CaRMS lists no email for the director.

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

Location

Northern Ontario, Ontario

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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.