Yellowknife - Family Medicine

University of AlbertaYellowknife, Northwest TerritoriesCMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPPContacts and 6 more links

CaRMS program description, 2027 match, last approved 9 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: 2 years
Stream: CMG
Discipline: Family Medicine
Applications per year: 401–600
Applicants offered interviews: 76–100%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 36195

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

Summary

This is a 2-year University of Alberta family medicine program based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Training combines integrated family medicine blocks with 8-week community blocks in Iqaluit and Inuvik and specialty rotations in Alberta.
Residents spend 7.5 months outside Yellowknife, must have a vehicle, and complete required quality improvement projects.

Training

Setting

Regional community
Academic / tertiary hospital
Rural / remote

Sites

5 teaching sites

Stanton Territorial Hospital
Qikiqtani General Hospital
Inuvik Regional Hospital

Show all 5

University of Alberta Hospital (UAH)
Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH)

Distributed across a region

Rural exposure

Required rural rotation (16 weeks)

Focus areas

Northern
Indigenous health
Rural / remote
Longitudinal / integrated
Small program

Research

Required · scholarly or quality-improvement project

Call

Home call

Getting around

A car is required
Housing away from the home site is provided or paid for
Travel is reimbursed

Highlights

Canada's only full-time residency program based in a circumpolar region.
Each resident is linked to a small NWT community for ongoing clinic visits and continuity of care.
A monthly Northern Living Allowance is added to pay.

By year

PGY-1

Family Medicine BlockYK20 wks
AnesthesiaYK2 wks
General SurgeryYK4 wks
PediatricsYK4 wks
Family Medicine Community BlockNU8 wks
Pediatrics EMAB4 wks
ElectivesCAN8 wks

PGY-2

Family Medicine BlockYK22 wks
Women’s HealthYK4 wks
Emergency MedicineYK4 wks
Family Medicine Community BlockNT8 wks
Palliative CareAB2 wks
Intensive CareAB4 wks
Trauma MedicineAB4 wks
ElectivesCAN4 wks

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

Application file components

CV
Electives
Examinations
Extra-curricular
Leadership skills
MSPRs
Personal letters
Reference documents
Research/Publications
Transcripts

Return of service

Not required · all residents

Applications per year

401–600

Applicants offered interviews

76–100%

Interviews

Dates (2027 match)

17 and 18 Jan 2027

Mode

Virtual

Format

Traditional (one on one/two on one)

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

Pay

No salary scale on file for Northwest Territories. See the CaRMS salary page(opens in a new tab).

Teaching sites

Stanton Territorial Hospital (Yellowknife)
Qikiqtani General Hospital (Iqaluit · rural or distributed site)
Inuvik Regional Hospital (Inuvik · rural or distributed site)
University of Alberta Hospital (UAH) (Edmonton)
Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) (Edmonton)

Hospital facts

Hospital size and activity: Northwest Territories 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

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

rfmyk@gov.nt.ca

April Lau · Stream Administrator

Program directors

Dr. Michelle Morros
Margaret Casson
Stream Co-Director
Kajsa Heyes
Stream Co-Director

CaRMS lists no email for the directors.

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

Location

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

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: −25.5 °C Yellowknife (Airport), 1.7 km away
July average: 17.1 °C Yellowknife (Airport), 1.7 km away
Snowfall: 155.0 cm a year Yellowknife (Airport), 1.7 km away
Days below −20 °C: 102.6 days a year Yellowknife (Airport), 1.7 km away

People

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

Population: 20,340 people up 3.9% from 2016
Official languages: English only 82.4% · French only 0.4% · English and French 16.7% · neither 0.5% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 16.4% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 3.1% · non-permanent residents: 1.7%
Indigenous identity: 24.2% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 73.4% · public transit 1.3% · walking or cycling 19.6% · other 5.7% Average commute: 12.6 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: $148,000 before tax $126,000 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: Yellowknife, a small population centre (1,000 to 29,999 people) 19,673 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.406 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.

Rental vacancy rate: 1.3% October 2025 survey, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (census agglomeration). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $76,287 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, 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 Northwest Territories 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.