Canadian Electives for Caribbean Medical Students

By Dr. Bilal Akil, MD — Emergency Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University · founder of mccQbank

Short answer: yes, Canadians at Caribbean medical schools can apply for visiting electives in Canada through the AFMC Student Portal, but check two things about your school first. Its World Directory listing should carry the Canada sponsor note, which Ottawa and UBC require for electives and the Medical Council of Canada requires for an acceptable degree. And for Toronto, your school must have signed U of T’s visiting elective agreement. When we checked on 13 October 2026, St. George’s, Ross, AUC and Saba all had the note, and all four were among 13 Caribbean schools with an active Toronto agreement. For how the portal works for every CSA, see our guide to AFMC visiting electives for Canadians abroad.

Step 1: check your school’s Canada sponsor note

Before you apply for Canadian electives from the Caribbean, find your school in the World Directory of Medical Schools and click its Sponsor Notes tab; the MCC explains that “A note for “Canada” indicates that your medical school is recognized in Canada” (MCC). A Canada note begins: “Unless indicated otherwise, Medical degrees obtained from this medical school are acceptable to the provincial/territorial medical regulatory authorities in Canada”.

On 13 October 2026 we checked every listing the Directory returned, operating or not, for 19 Caribbean countries and territories (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saba, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, and Trinidad and Tobago) plus Guyana. We did not search Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti or Puerto Rico. Of the 80 listings, 57 had the note and 23 did not. These had no Canada note that day:

• Aruba: Bay University; Nucleus University
• Antigua: Atlantic University School of Medicine
• Barbados: International University of Barbados; Queen’s University College of Medicine; Victoria University of Barbados; Washington University of Barbados
• Bonaire: International University School of Medicine
• Curaçao: New York Medical University
• Dominica: St. Joseph University
• Guyana: Alexander American University; American School of Medicine; Narendra Modi School of Medicine; Twin Island University
• Jamaica: BioPrist Institute of Medical Sciences; Caribbean School of Medical Sciences
• Montserrat: Vanguard University
• St. Kitts and Nevis: Universal Caribbean University
• St. Lucia: Commonwealth University; Washington Medical Sciences Institute
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Desh Bhagat University Americas; Kingstown Medical College
• Sint Maarten: American University of Sint Maarten

Two search tips: the Directory lists Ross University under Barbados and the American University of the Caribbean under Sint Maarten. Listings change, so recheck your own school’s page. Without the note, Ottawa’s CSA program and UBC will not consider you. Our guide to writing the MCCQE before you graduate explains why the same note matters for the exam.

Step 2: Toronto needs a signed agreement with your school

For Canadian electives, Caribbean students should check Toronto first. Toronto takes international students only through its Random Selection Process, and only from schools that signed its agreement by 1 May of the year before the elective. Its list of active agreements (dated 12 May 2026) includes these Caribbean schools:

Two schools in Belize, Columbus Central School of Medicine and Washington University of Health and Science, are also on the list. Check that your school’s agreement covers your dates: Toronto lists 2028 placements as January to July 2028, the University of the West Indies’ agreement ends before that, and St. George’s and Medical University of the Americas end during it. For a school that is missing, or a placement after its expiry date, Toronto asks for the form on its agreements page; the process can take up to four months. You must also be in your final or penultimate year and be picked in the lottery, whose application window ran from 18 May to 26 June 2026 for electives from January to August 2027.

Step 3: choose the faculties that take you

Each faculty sets its own rules for Canadian electives, and Caribbean students must meet them:

• Western: Canadian citizens or permanent residents only, at a FAIMER/WHO- or LCME-accredited school; final year, with core clerkship done in the area you apply for; summer electives only (May to August 2027, applications January to April 2027).
• Ottawa: citizens or permanent residents at a World Directory school with the Canada note; clerkship in the second-to-last or final year; January to August only.
• NOSM: CSAs only, at a FAIMER/IMED-listed school; not osteopathic; final two years.
• McMaster: final year at a FAIMER-listed school; 4-week blocks by lottery.
• Dalhousie: final year, with five core rotations completed before the elective.
• Queen’s and Manitoba: a school listed in the World Directory; Queen’s normally wants the core rotation in the discipline done, and Manitoba wants the final clerkship phase.
• UBC: final year, at a school with the Canada note; November to June only.
• Saskatchewan: mainly Saskatchewan students studying abroad with a valid Saskatchewan health card; it also takes nominated RCSI, LMU and IFMSA students.

Alberta, Calgary and Laval take international visitors only through exchanges or bilateral agreements, Memorial says it is “not currently accepting visiting elective applications from learners at international medical schools”, and Montréal and Sherbrooke list no route for students at international schools. McGill’s profile says “All international electives are currently suspended at McGill” (confirm with McGill), and Toronto Metropolitan was not yet hosting visiting electives.

Paperwork for Canadian electives from the Caribbean

• Police check: Western wants a current one from the country where you study, translated into English. Ottawa wants a vulnerable sector screening equivalent from your country of residence; students at overseas schools email its office with their school and country for instructions. 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.
• Health insurance: keep proof of provincial coverage if you have it. Ottawa exempts CSAs from its UHIP charge with that proof and does not accept international coverage.
• Fees: the portal’s international registration fee is $745 (paid once), and one elective costs roughly $1,400 to $2,000 in portal and school fees at most of these faculties. Saskatchewan also charges international students $600 a week.

Plan Canadian electives around your Caribbean clinical years

Western, McMaster, Dalhousie and UBC want you in your final year, and Manitoba in your final clerkship phase; Ottawa, NOSM and Toronto also take the year before. The World Directory lists St. George’s MD as a 4-year program, so confirm with your school which year counts as your final year. Ask for a letter of good standing early: Dalhousie wants your current year and expected graduation date (month and year), and Western your expected graduation year and confirmation that your program is taught in English.

Electives are one step on the way home. Our guide to going from a Caribbean medical school to Canadian residency covers the exams and CaRMS rules that apply to you as an international medical graduate.

If the MCCQE is part of your plan, practise in its format early. mccQbank has 2,600+ bilingual MCCQE questions in English and French. Try 30 free questions.

Frequently asked questions

Does my Caribbean school need a Canada sponsor note for a Canadian elective?

For Ottawa and UBC, yes: both name the Canada note in their eligibility rules. Other schools word it differently (FAIMER, WHO or World Directory listing), so read each profile.

Does the University of Toronto accept students from my school?

Only if your school appears on Toronto’s agreements list, the agreement covers your dates, and you are chosen in its Random Selection Process. On the 12 May 2026 list, 13 Caribbean schools had active agreements.

Will a Canadian elective improve my CaRMS chances?

No school promises that. Dalhousie’s profile states that elective placements “are also not considered a pathway into a residency program”.