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Rural-Regional Stratford - St. Marys - Family Medicine

Western UniversityRural-Regional Stratford, OntarioIMG streamNew for 2027

Program websiteWebsiteXFacebookCANPREPPCANPREPPContacts and 4 more links
Open on carms.ca(opens in a new tab)

CaRMS program description, 2027 match, last approved 9 Sep 2026

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
601+
Applicants offered interviews
0–25%
Accreditation
Accredited
CaRMS program ID
37243

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

Summary

  • This is a 2-year Western University family medicine program based in Stratford-St. Marys, preparing residents for comprehensive family practice in a rural/semi-urban setting.
  • Training uses Stratford General Hospital, and residents are expected to live in the Stratford/St. Marys area for both years.
  • The second year places residents in family practice most of the time, complemented by elective blocks.
  • The stream carries a return of service obligation, and accepted IMGs must complete a 12-week assessment verification period.

Training

Setting
  • Regional community
Sites

2 teaching sites

  • Stratford General Hospital
  • Avon Family Medicine Centre

Distributed across a region

Rural exposure
Based in a rural community
Focus areas
  • Rural / remote
Highlights
  • Residents live in the Stratford/St. Marys area for both years.

By year

Not stated on CaRMS page

Selection

Application file components
  • CV
  • Electives
  • Examinations
  • Extra-curricular
  • Leadership skills
  • MSPRs
  • Personal letters
  • Reference documents
  • Research/Publications
  • Transcripts
Return of service
Required · this stream
IMG requirements
  • Assessment by a provincial clinical assessment program
  • Observerships don’t count as clinical experience
Applications per year
601+
Applicants offered interviews
0–25%

Interviews

Dates (2027 match)
15 Jan 2027
Mode
Virtual
Format
  • Traditional (one on one/two on one)

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
LevelAnnual salary
PGY-1
$73,367 / year
PGY-2
$79,670 / year

One provincial scale for Ontario, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 2 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

  • Stratford General Hospital (Stratford)
  • Avon Family Medicine Centre (Stratford)

Hospital facts

Hospital size and activity: Ontario 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

jberge33@uwo.ca

John Berger · Postgraduate Program Coordinator

Program director

  • Dr. Daniel Grushka

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.

More links

Discussed on Reddit

Public Reddit posts and comments where someone describes this program. Each one links to Reddit.

These are public Reddit posts, reviewed by hand and linked here, not endorsed. They may be out of date. Confirm with the program.

Location

Rural-Regional Stratford, Ontario

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. This label covers more than one place, so each is listed on its own (A to Z); open one to read it.

St. Marys

Climate

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

January average
−5.4 °C London, 25.3 km away
July average
21.0 °C London, 25.3 km away
Snowfall
152.3 cm a year Strathroy-Mullifarry, 51.0 km away (more than 50 km, so it may differ from the city)
Days below −20 °C
4.5 days a year London, 25.3 km away

People

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

Population
7,386 people up 1.7% from 2016
Official languages
English only 96.1% · French only not reported · English and French 3.8% · neither 0.1% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants
8.4% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 1.4% · non-permanent residents: 0.1%
Indigenous identity
1.5% of residents
How people commute
car, truck or van 90.7% · public transit not reported · walking or cycling 7.7% · other 1.2% Average commute: 17.2 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
$86,000 before tax $75,500 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
St. Marys, a small population centre (1,000 to 29,999 people) 7,271 people in 2021
Remoteness index
0.116 0 is least remote, 1 is most remote. Statistics Canada calls this index experimental.
Student loan forgiveness
Family medicine here may qualify for up to $60,000 of Canada Student Loan forgiveness. Eligibility depends on the postal code of where you work: check the official postal-code lookup. Postal-code lookup(opens in a new tab)

Housing, cost and work

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

Basic cost of living
$52,873 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Ontario, population under 30,000, 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.

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 general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Stratford - Bruce Peninsula 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.

Stratford

Climate

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

January average
−5.4 °C London, 39.9 km away
July average
21.0 °C London, 39.9 km away
Snowfall
152.3 cm a year Strathroy-Mullifarry, 68.5 km away (more than 50 km, so it may differ from the city)
Days below −20 °C
4.5 days a year London, 39.9 km away

People

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

Population
33,232 people up 5.6% from 2016
Official languages
English only 93.3% · French only 0.0% · English and French 6.3% · neither 0.4% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants
10.9% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 1.3% · non-permanent residents: 0.9%
Indigenous identity
1.8% of residents
How people commute
car, truck or van 87.0% · public transit 1.8% · walking or cycling 9.2% · other 2.1% Average commute: 16.8 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
$77,000 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
Stratford, a medium population centre (30,000 to 99,999 people) 32,878 people in 2021
Remoteness index
0.106 0 is least remote, 1 is most remote. Statistics Canada calls this index experimental.
Student loan forgiveness
Family medicine here may qualify for up to $60,000 of Canada Student Loan forgiveness. Eligibility depends on the postal code of where you work: check the official postal-code lookup. Postal-code lookup(opens in a new tab)Time-limited: this place meets only the previous community definition, which stays in place “until November 1, 2027 or the day that is 6 months after the day on which a census is published by Statistics Canada, whichever is later”.

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
4.1% October 2025 survey, Stratford, Ontario (census agglomeration). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living
$51,047 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Ontario, population 30,000 to 99,999, 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.

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 general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102) in the Stratford - Bruce Peninsula 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 34-10-0132-01. 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.
  • Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Student Loan Forgiveness (Canada.ca), page dated 2026-06-03.
  • 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.