Canadian Electives for Canadians at UK Medical Schools

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

Short answer: Canadians at UK medical schools can apply for Canadian visiting electives through the AFMC Student Portal. Most UK schools in the World Directory carried the Canada sponsor note when we checked on 13 October 2026, but seven that began teaching between 2020 and 2024 did not: Brunel, Chester, Edge Hill, Kent and Medway, North Wales (Bangor), Surrey and Worcester’s Three Counties Medical School. Toronto’s agreement list, which you need for its lottery, included 10 UK schools.

For how the AFMC portal works for every CSA, read our guide, Visiting Electives in Canada for Canadians Studying Abroad.

Step 1: check the Canada sponsor note

Before you apply for Canadian electives from UK medical schools, find your school in the Directory and click its Sponsor Notes tab (MCC: using the World Directory). Ottawa’s program for Canadians studying abroad (CSAs) and UBC both require the note, and the Medical Council of Canada treats a degree as acceptable only if the school’s World Directory listing has a Canada Sponsor Note. These UK schools had no Canada note on 13 October 2026 (year teaching began in brackets):

• Brunel Medical School, Brunel University London (2022)
• Chester Medical School (2024)
• Edge Hill University Medical School (2020)
• Kent and Medway Medical School (2020)
• North Wales Medical School, Bangor University (2024)
• University of Surrey School of Medicine (2024)
• Three Counties Medical School, University of Worcester (2023)

Newer schools that did have the note included Anglia Ruskin (teaching since 2018), Aston (2018), Sunderland (2019) and Ulster (2021). Listings change, so open your own school’s sponsor notes before you plan. Our guide to writing the MCCQE before you graduate explains why the same check matters for the exam.

Step 2: is your school on Toronto’s list?

For Canadian electives from UK medical schools, Toronto has an extra rule. 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 UK schools:

Toronto now accepts agreements only for 2028 placements, which it lists as January to July 2028. For those dates, Birmingham’s and Central Lancashire’s agreements expire before the period starts, and Brighton and Sussex’s, Warwick’s, Nottingham’s and East Anglia’s expire during it. For a placement after your school’s expiry date, or a school not on the list, 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 last application window ran from 18 May to 26 June 2026 for electives from January to August 2027.

Step 3: choose faculties that accept Canadian electives from UK medical schools

• Western and NOSM: CSAs only (Canadian citizens or permanent residents). Western wants final-year students with core clerkship done in the area they apply for, and runs international electives from May to August 2027 only; NOSM takes the final two years.
• Ottawa: CSA blocks from January to August, for clerkship students in the second-to-last or final year.
• McMaster: final year, 4-week blocks by lottery.
• Dalhousie: final year, with five core rotations finished before the elective.
• Queen’s and Manitoba: international routes for students at World Directory-listed schools; Manitoba wants the final clerkship phase.
• UBC: final year, at a school with the Canada note; November to June only.
• Saskatchewan: only 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, Laval only through bilateral agreements, Memorial is not accepting students from international schools, and Montréal’s and Sherbrooke’s profiles list only students at Canadian universities. McGill had suspended international electives, and Toronto Metropolitan was not yet hosting visiting electives. If you are comparing UK and Irish schools, see our guide, Canadian Electives for Canadians at Irish Medical Schools.

Language and year rules

UBC needs no IELTS score if the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC accepts that English was the main language of your medical education and patient care, for example through a letter your school emails to the College confirming at least 51% was in English. Queen’s needs no language proof once your school confirms English instruction, and Manitoba asks for proof only from programs not taught in English. McMaster asks every international student for proof, which can be a school letter saying instruction and examination are in English. Ottawa asks every visiting student to complete a language declaration form.

For your letter of good standing, Western wants your student number, expected graduation year and confirmation that the program language is English. Dalhousie wants your program, its length and language, your current year and your expected graduation date. Year rules refer to your own program: Ottawa, for example, asks for the second-to-last or final year of your medical program, and Dalhousie and NOSM ask your school to state the program’s length.

Five steps to Canadian electives from UK medical schools

1. Open your school’s World Directory listing and confirm the Canada note.
2. Check Toronto’s agreement list for your school and its expiry date.
3. Ask your school for a letter of good standing that states your year, program length, language and expected graduation date.
4. Send the AFMC Homeschool Verification Form, and pay the $745 registration fee only once at least one school’s rules fit you.
5. Prepare your documents, then apply inside each school’s window.

Plan the order around the earliest deadlines. NOSM takes CSA applications 36 to 27 weeks ahead. Ottawa releases CSA blocks on fixed dates (2 November 2026 for May and June 2027, 7 December 2026 for July and August 2027; its January to April block is closed). Western’s windows for May to August 2027 run from January to April 2027, and most other windows open about 12 to 24 weeks before the elective.

Paperwork, timing and cost for Canadian electives from UK medical schools

• Police check: Western wants a current one from the country where you study. Ottawa wants a vulnerable sector screening equivalent from your country of residence; students at overseas schools email its office with their school’s name and country of residence 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.
• Immunization form: most of the AFMC form must be completed by a health care professional whose scope includes immunization, and AFMC warns some requirements may take months.
• Timing: Ottawa offers CSA electives from January to August, UBC from November to June, Western from May to August 2027, and McMaster closes to CSAs from 21 June 2027 to 3 January 2028. Dalhousie blacks out 11 October to 31 December 2027.
• Cost: the portal’s one-time international registration fee is $745 (AFMC home page). Ottawa adds $100 to apply and $844.89 on acceptance (fees page, effective 11 May 2025), so a first Ottawa elective costs $1,689.89 including registration.

For the bigger picture, our guide to returning to Canada after medical school abroad covers the UK alongside other regions.

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

Which UK medical schools have agreements with the University of Toronto?

On the list dated 12 May 2026: Aston, Brighton and Sussex, Keele, Swansea, Birmingham, Central Lancashire, East Anglia, Nottingham, Sheffield and Warwick. Check that your school’s agreement covers your dates.

My UK school is new and has no Canada sponsor note. What then?

Ottawa and UBC will not consider you without it. Other faculties word their rules differently (FAIMER, WHO or World Directory listing), so read each profile, and keep checking your school’s listing, because the MCC’s rule on acceptable degrees also refers to the Canada note.

Do I need IELTS for a Canadian elective?

Only if English was not the main language of your training, or your school cannot confirm it. UBC asks for IELTS-Academic in that case, McMaster accepts a school letter instead, and Queen’s and Manitoba ask for language proof only from programs not taught in English.