By Dr. Bilal Akil, MD — Emergency Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University · founder of mccQbank
Short answer: Canadians studying medicine in Poland can apply for Canadian visiting electives through the AFMC Student Portal, but check your school’s World Directory listing first. On 5 November 2026, 24 of the 41 Polish listings carried the Canada sponsor note and 17 did not; all 17 began teaching between 2019 and 2024. Toronto’s agreement list included two Polish schools: Jagiellonian University Medical College and Wroclaw Medical University.
Step 1: does your school have the Canada sponsor note?
Find your school in the Directory and click its Sponsor Notes tab (MCC: using the World Directory). The note matters twice. Ottawa’s program for Canadians studying abroad (CSAs) and UBC require it for electives, and the Medical Council of Canada treats a degree as acceptable only if the school’s World Directory listing has a Canada Sponsor Note. All of these had it on 5 November 2026: the Medical University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian, Gdańsk, Łódź, Lublin, Poznań, Silesia, Wrocław, Białystok and the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. Do not confuse the Medical University of Warsaw with the University of Warsaw’s new Faculty of Medicine, or with Akademia Medyczna im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie, which the Directory also lists as “Medical University of Warsaw Maria Skłodowska-Curie”; neither had the note. These 17 listings had no Canada note that day (year teaching began in brackets):
- University of Warsaw Faculty of Medicine (2023)
- Akademia Medyczna im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie, Warsaw (2020)
- Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego, Warsaw (2019)
- Akademia Mazowiecka w Płocku (2023)
- Akademia Medycznych i Społecznych Nauk Stosowanych, Elbląg (2022)
- Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Nowym Sączu (2023)
- Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Nowym Targu (2023)
- Akademia Tarnowska (2024)
- Akademia WSB w Dąbrowie Górniczej (2023)
- Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II (2023)
- Politechnika Bydgoska (2024)
- Politechnika Wrocławska (2023)
- Poznańska Akademia Medyczna Nauk Stosowanych (2023)
- Społeczna Akademia Nauk, Łódź (2023)
- Uniwersytet Jana Długosza w Częstochowie (2022)
- Uniwersytet Kaliski (2023)
- Uniwersytet w Siedlcach (2023)
Several younger schools did have the note, including Akademia Śląska, Casimir Pulaski Radom University, Uczelnia Łazarskiego and Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Kraków University. Listings change, so check your own school’s page. Our guide to Polish medical schools for Canadian students lists the ECFMG graduation years and English tracks for all 22 operational listings with the note, and our guide to writing the MCCQE before you graduate explains why the same note matters for the exam.
Step 2: Toronto’s agreements
Toronto takes international students only by lottery, and only from schools that signed its agreement by 1 May of the year before the elective. Its list dated 12 May 2026 includes Jagiellonian University Medical College (agreement to 18 March 2031) and Wroclaw Medical University (to 1 July 2028). Students at other Polish schools would need their school to sign first, a process Toronto says can take up to four months; it now accepts agreements only for 2028 placements, which it lists as January to July 2028.
Step 3: language rules for English-program students
Many Polish listings in the World Directory include a 6-year program taught in English (the Medical University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian, Gdańsk, Łódź, Lublin and Poznań among them). Jagiellonian and Poznań also list 4-year English MD programs, while the 4-year English programs at Łódź, Lublin and the Medical University of Warsaw no longer admit students. The Medical University of Warsaw’s listing adds that “Only non-citizens of Poland are eligible for the English language programs”, and the listing for the Poznań Center for Medical Education in English says “Only non-citizens of Poland are accepted to this faculty”. Both matter if you hold Polish citizenship. Canadian faculties check language in different ways:
- UBC requires you to meet the English language proficiency policy of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. Its profile says the College may consider the policy met if English was the main language of both your medical education and your patient care.
- McMaster asks every international student for proof of English: a letter from your school saying instruction and examination are in English, IELTS 6.5 overall or TOEFL 86.
- Ottawa offers electives only in English-speaking settings, requires fluency in English and asks every visiting student for a language declaration form.
- Western wants a letter of good standing that confirms your program language is English.
- Dalhousie wants your letter to state the language of education, and lets CSAs upload a driver’s licence or passport as proof of language competence.
- Toronto, Queen’s and Manitoba ask for proof of English only if your program is not taught in English.
Laval takes international students only under bilateral agreements, none with a Polish school, and its electives are entirely in French; Sherbrooke’s profile covers students at Canadian universities only.
What “final year” means in a Polish program
UBC, McMaster, Western and Dalhousie want students in their final year of medical school, and Manitoba in the final clerkship phase: year 6 of a 6-year program, or year 4 of a 4-year MD. Ottawa also takes clerkship students in the second-to-last year, Toronto the penultimate year, and NOSM the final two years. Dalhousie adds five completed core rotations, and Western wants core clerkship done in the area you apply for.
Paperwork from Poland
- Police check: Western wants a current one from the country where you study, translated into English. Ottawa wants the vulnerable-sector equivalent from your country of residence, with a certified translation if applicable; processing can take 2 to 12 weeks. McMaster wants one from each country where you lived for more than six months in a row in the past five years, and NOSM wants a check from Canada.
- Immunization form: most of the AFMC form must be completed by a health care professional whose scope of practice includes immunization, and AFMC warns that some requirements may take months.
- Timing: May and June are the months when Ottawa, Toronto, McMaster, UBC and Western all take international or CSA electives. UBC stops after June, McMaster closes to CSAs from 21 June 2027 to 3 January 2028, and Western runs from May to August only. Ottawa closes a block once it is full: its CSA block for 3 May to 28 June 2027 was released on 2 November 2026 and was already marked closed on 5 November. Its next block, for 5 July to 23 August 2027, is released on 7 December 2026.
Five steps for a Polish-school CSA
- Check your school’s World Directory listing for the Canada note.
- Check whether your school is on Toronto’s agreement list.
- Ask your school for a letter of good standing that states your year, program length, language of instruction and expected graduation date.
- Send the AFMC Homeschool Verification Form, and pay the $745 registration fee only once at least one school’s rules fit you.
- Apply inside each school’s window, with your documents ready.
Faculties open to Polish-school CSAs
On 5 November 2026, the routes were Western and NOSM (CSAs only), Ottawa’s CSA program, McMaster, Dalhousie, Queen’s, Manitoba, UBC, Toronto by lottery, and Saskatchewan for Saskatchewan students studying abroad (with a valid Saskatchewan health card) or nominated IFMSA exchange students. Alberta and Calgary take international visitors only through formal exchanges such as IFMSA. Alberta’s profile lists Poland among its IFMSA countries, but its IFMSA section still says exchanges would not be offered until 2024 and that Alberta hosts four IFMSA students a year, so confirm with your local or national IFMSA exchange officers first. McGill’s international electives were suspended, and Memorial was not accepting students from international schools.
Budget for the portal’s one-time $745 international registration fee, listed on the AFMC Student Portal home page, plus each school’s fees. Ottawa charges international applicants $100 to apply and $844.89 on acceptance (fees page, effective 11 May 2025, subject to change), so a first Ottawa elective comes to $1,689.89. For the portal steps that apply at every school, see our guide to AFMC visiting electives for Canadians abroad. For the bigger picture, our guide to returning to Canada after medical school abroad covers continental Europe alongside other regions.
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Frequently asked questions
My Polish school has no Canada sponsor note. Can I still do a Canadian elective?
Not at Ottawa or UBC, which require the note. Other faculties word their rules differently (FAIMER, WHO or World Directory listing), so read each profile, and remember that the MCC’s rule on acceptable degrees also refers to the Canada note.
Do I need IELTS for a Canadian elective?
Sometimes. UBC applies the BC College’s English language proficiency policy, which the College may consider met if English was the main language of both your medical education and your patient care. McMaster accepts a school letter, IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 86, and Toronto, Queen’s and Manitoba ask for proof only from programs not taught in English.
Which Polish schools have agreements with the University of Toronto?
On the list dated 12 May 2026: Jagiellonian University Medical College and Wroclaw Medical University.
