Apply for Independent Practice

These are CPSA minimum requirements and these do not automatically make you eligible for the General Register.

CPSA has the same basic expectations of all applicants, including locums, physicians with Canadian credentials and those with international training. Some of the requirements below apply only to physicians who were trained outside of Canada. This is all part of our commitment to ensuring Albertans get safe and consistent medical care.

• Medical degree from a school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools
• Proof of English Language Proficiency if you were trained in a country where English is not the first and native language (even if English was the language of instruction). For more on this requirement, visit English Language Proficiency.
• MCCQE Part 1—The Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part 1 (MCCQE Part 1) is a national exam offered through MCC to ensure the critical medical knowledge and clinical decision-making ability of an internationally trained physician (often known as international medical graduate) is at the level expected of a Canadian medical school graduate. CPSA will accept the complete United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) as an equivalent to the MCCQE Part 1. We do not accept a partial USMLE.
• Currency of practice—within the last 3 years, you need to have practised independently or been a part of a continuous postgraduate training program for a minimum of 1 year in the discipline you want to enter in Alberta. Fellowship training, community service, public service, national service, Medical Officer posts and practice experience don’t fulfill this requirement.
• Postgraduate training requirements for your discipline. If you are pursuing Family Medicine or General Practice, you need to have completed a continuous, university-affiliated Family Medicine postgraduate training program (at least 24 months) including 4 months of community-based primary care and 8 weeks in 3 of the following: pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery and internal medicine. Applicants trained outside of Canada and approved jurisdictions (see below) must list each rotation of their completed University affiliated, family medicine program (including the start and end date of each rotation) on their Review of Qualifications form. If CPSA deems the applicant eligible to move forward, this same document must be verifiable via physiciansapply.ca. Sharing documents on physiciansapply.ca does not exclude the need to provide the rotations on the form submission. For Specialty Practice, you must have successfully completed a specialty residency in Canada or a continuous, university-affiliated discipline-specific specialty postgraduate training program of at least 48 months and equal to Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Specialty Training Requirements and have specialist certification. Certification must be issued by a certifying body, not a training institution and/or university. As of Jan. 22, 2024, CPSA accepts the Royal College’s Subspecialist Examination Affiliate Program (SEAP) credentials towards licensure.
  (NOTE: Fellowship training, community service, public service, national service, house officer, medical officer posts and practice experience do not satisfy the postgraduate training requirements.)
• Therapeutics Decision Making (TDM) exam if you are a Family Medicine physician who got their training outside of Canada. The TDM exam is the second exam offered through MCC that Family Medicine internationally trained physicians take to prove they have the right skills and training to practice in Canada. For more information about the TDM exam, to see the next test dates and to apply for the test, visit our TDM exam page. If your postgraduate training was in USA, UK, Ireland or Australia, you might not have to write the TDM exam. We suggest you first apply to the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) for certification without examination. If CFPC sends you a notice recognizing your training and you meet all the other CPSA eligibility requirements, you can go straight to Step 2—Create an account with physiciansapply.ca.
  
  As of October 1, 2020, if you are a Family Medicine physician and you want to join our Provisional Register, you will need to pass the TDM exam and get sponsorship within 1 year of receiving your CPSA eligibility letter. Once you have both, your Registration Administrator will send you a letter outlining which documentation we need before you register for our Provisional Register.
• A criminal record check or police certificate is required from all locations you have practised and/or trained for more than 90 days in the last 5 years. Canadian criminal record checks are nation-wide, so only 1 is required. Although we don’t need it, we will accept a vulnerable sector check if it is a part of your criminal record check. In Canada, criminal record checks must be obtained through the RCMP or local police services. Any third-party or online criminal record checks (or police certificates) will not be accepted.
• Patient Relations education is required under the HPA and mandatory for CPSA registration. On April 1, 2019, the Alberta government approved amendments to the Health Professions Act (HPA) to protect patients. Applicants are provided with a link to complete this training at the applicable stage.

You may also be eligible to apply for a CPSA practice permit through:

• Accelerated Jurisdiction Route to registration for internationally trained physicians trained in approved jurisdictions: you must meet certain requirements, including having received medical training in an eligible jurisdiction. Learn more.
• Labour Mobility Act, Canadian Free Trade Agreement or New West Partnership Trade Agreement: you must be currently registered and in independent practice in another jurisdiction in Canada. Learn more.
• Full-Time Academic Appointment: you must provide evidence of your appointment offer from the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Alberta (University of Alberta or University of Calgary). Learn more.

physiciansapply.ca is the tool that all physicians are required to use to apply for practice in Canada. Run by the Medical Council of Canada, physiciansapply.ca standardizes the application process for medical registration in Canada. CPSA only accepts applications through physiciansapply.ca.

Through your physiciansapply.ca account, you can:

• apply for any necessary MCC exams
• view your exam results
• submit your credentials and documents
• have your credentials translated (if they need to be)
• share your credentials and exam results with CPSA or any other medical authority
• submit a Review of Qualifications to CPSA

Through your physiciansapply.ca account, you need to submit a Review of Qualifications to CPSA. This is our pre-screening process for every applicant to confirm you meet all the eligibility requirements from Step 1. This review costs $200 + GST and is non-refundable. A CPSA Registration Administrator will review:

• which Canadian medical exams you’ve passed (e.g., LMCC, MCCQE1, CCFP, FRCP(C), FRCS(C))
• proof of English language proficiency
• your medical education history
• your postgraduate training
• medical certifications and other qualifications
• practice history
• what type of registration assessments you may have to complete to get your permit

Following the submission of your Review of Qualifications, a Team Lead will review the document and decide if you are eligible. A second Team Lead will also review the Review of Qualifications as a confirmation/quality check on the eligibility decision. Once we confirm you may be eligible to practise in Alberta, we’ll send you a CPSA Eligibility Letter to let you know what register you may be eligible for and if you require an assessment.

If you are a physician who got their training outside of Canada and is eligible for the CPSA Provisional Register, you will need this eligibility letter to secure sponsorship and employment.

As of October 1, 2020, if you are a Family Medicine physician who isn’t eligible for independent practice on the General Register or you do not have Recognized Training and Certification Outside Canada through the CFPC, you must also successfully write and pass the TDM exam in addition to securing AHS sponsorship and employment in Alberta. You will have 1 year from when your CPSA Eligibility Letter is issued to have both sponsorship for employment and successfully pass the TDM exam.

If you are ineligible to proceed with registration, a Team Lead will provide lettered advice explaining the deficiencies in your Review of Qualifications. You may request an additional analysis of your Review of Qualifications by the Dir. of Registration and/or the Assistant Registrar for Registration – your assigned Team Lead will advise you on how to do this.

If you got your training outside of Canada, you may need to apply for sponsorship. This sponsorship helps Alberta make sure that new-to-Alberta physicians can enter the workforce while also serving communities that have the highest need for physicians. Start by visiting DoctorJobsAlberta.com and apply for physician postings eligible for sponsorship.

As of October 1, 2020, if you are a Family Medicine physician who isn’t eligible for independent practice on the General Register or you do not have Recognized Training and Certification Outside Canada through the CFPC, you must also successfully write and pass the TDM exam in addition to securing sponsorship and employment in Alberta. You will have 1 year from when your CPSA Eligibility Letter is issued to both secure sponsorship for employment and successfully pass the TDM exam. Once you have both, your Registration Administrator will send you a letter outlining which documentation we need before you register for our Provisional Register.

Physicians with international credentials 

If you got your training outside of Canada, you’ll begin the process of applying and registering for CPSA’s Provisional Register once your sponsorship is confirmed with us (Sponsor will send us your sponsorship form) and, for family medicine physicians, once we receive confirmation that you’ve passed the TDM exam. The Provisional Register is a temporary register that gives you time to get your Canadian credentials before joining the CPSA General Register. Once on the Provisional Register, you can practise independently. However, you need to get Canadian credentials within 6 years of practice or undergo a Summative Assessment before being considered for transfer to the General Register. Visit CPSA Registration Assessments for more information.

You’ll need to complete a full application through your physiciansapply.ca account, and provide other required documentation. Your Registration Administrator will be in contact with you throughout the process via email and through CPSA’s tracking system. They’ll let you know what documents are required for registration.

Physicians with Canadian credentials

You’ll need to complete a full application through your physiciansapply.ca account and provide other required documentation. Your Registration Administrator will be in contact with you throughout the process, via email and through CPSA’s tracking system. They’ll let you know what documents are required for registration.

If a Canadian graduate fails a Canadian certifying exam (e.g., CCFP, FRCP(C), FRCS(C)), you may be eligible for CPSA’s Provisional Register and will have to undergo a 3-month Supervised Practice Assessment with sponsorship. Once on the Provisional Register, physicians can practise independently, but they need to get their Canadian credentials within 6 years of practice or undergo a Summative Assessment before being considered for transfer to the General Register. Visit CPSA Registration Assessments for more information.

If you are eligible for the Provisional Register, the next step to getting your permit is passing a Practice Readiness Assessment (PRA-AB). This 2-part assessment is the last step we take to make sure you’re ready to practice in Alberta. Over a period of 3 to 6 months, a CPSA-approved assessor will directly observe your clinical competence, review charts and collect feedback from your colleagues, patients and healthcare partners. During the assessment, you will be registered on an Assessment Permit. For more information about PRA-AB, visit CPSA’s Registration Assessments.

Once you submit a complete application (including all of your medical credentials and supporting documents), your Registration Administrator will review your file. If everything is in order and you qualify for registration, we’ll follow up to get any final documentation from you or, if an assessment is required at this stage, the CPSA assessment team will make those arrangements. You’ll also need to complete CPSA’s physician orientation, called MyCPSA, and pay fees in order to get your CPSA practice permit.