By Dr. Bilal Akil, MD — Emergency Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University · founder of mccQbank
Short answer: LMCC stands for Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada. It means the MCC has entered your name in the Canadian Medical Register; it is not a licence to practise. Licences come from the provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities, and the LMCC is part of their requirements (MCC: LMCC). Since 26 January 2026, you qualify with a pass on the MCCQE, a source-verified medical degree from an eligible school and no outstanding MCC fees, and if you applied for the MCCQE after that date your digital LMCC number is issued automatically at no additional cost. Ontario changed in 2026: the CPSO approved a policy (reported in its October 2026 Dialogue issue) under which physicians certified by the Royal College or the CFPC can be granted a provisional certificate to practise independently without the MCCQE or the LMCC (CPSO Dialogue). IMGs entering residency through CaRMS still generally need to have passed the MCCQE and the NAC (CaRMS eligibility criteria). We explain who the Ontario MCCQE and LMCC exemption covers, and who still needs both.
LMCC is a qualification, not a licence
The Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada is a qualification granted by the Medical Council of Canada. Holding it means the MCC is satisfied that you have met its standard and that your name can be entered in the Canadian Medical Register.
Medicine in Canada is licensed provincially and territorially, not federally. The body that decides whether you may practise is the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the province you want to work in — the CPSO in Ontario, the CPSBC in British Columbia, the CPSA in Alberta, and so on. The MCC does not license anyone.
What a provincial college actually wants
A college assembles a picture: your medical degree and where it was earned, your postgraduate training, your certification, your practice history, your language proficiency, your character and conduct references. The LMCC is one input into that picture. For most routes to independent practice it is a necessary one. It has never been a sufficient one, and Ontario no longer requires it for certified physicians seeking a provisional certificate (next section).
Ontario, October 2026: no MCCQE or LMCC for certified physicians
The CPSO approved a policy that “enables physicians to be granted a provisional certificate of registration to practise independently in Ontario without completing” the MCCQE or holding the LMCC (CPSO: New Policy Removes MCCQE and LMCC as Requirements for Registration). It applies to Canadian- and internationally-trained physicians certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
The policy text sets out who qualifies. The CPSO may issue a provisional certificate, without the LMCC, to applicants who hold Royal College certification by examination, CFPC certification, Royal College Subspecialist Affiliate status, or specialist certification from an approved jurisdiction after completing specialty training. It may issue a certificate authorising independent practice to applicants who hold the LMCC. In both cases, applicants must be otherwise qualified under Ontario Regulation 865/93. The CPSO notes that both may still be required by other provincial regulators, by medical schools and through CaRMS for postgraduate training, and CaRMS still requires IMGs to “have written and passed” the NAC and the MCC’s qualifying exam, though some provinces may allow exceptions (CaRMS: Eligibility criteria). For an IMG heading to residency, the MCCQE and the NAC remain the way in. Checked 11 November 2026.
LMCC Canada: What changed on 26 January 2026
For years the Licentiate ran through two examinations, and then through one examination plus a year of postgraduate training. Both of those steps have now gone.
The first went in 2021, when the MCC confirmed on 10 June 2021 that it was stepping away from delivering the MCCQE Part II, and the route was rebuilt around the remaining written examination. We covered what replaced the MCCQE Part II separately. The examination that remained was renamed on 1 April 2026 — “MCCQE Part I” became simply the MCCQE, per the MCC’s name update, which is the reason you will see both names in circulation and why older forum threads read strangely. We wrote up separately how the MCCQE Part I was renamed.
The second went this year. In Important update to LMCC eligibility and issuance starting January 26, 2026, published 26 January 2026, the MCC stated that candidates would “no longer be required to complete twelve months of postgraduate training” to qualify for the Licentiate.
In practice the Licentiate can now come earlier in your training (the MCC says candidates “can secure their LMCC earlier in their training path”), and any guide that says you need a year of postgraduate training first is out of date.
What the MCC requires now regarding LMCC
As the MCC’s LMCC page sets it out, eligibility now rests on four things: that your medical school qualifies (an accredited Canadian school, a school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools with the relevant sponsor note, or a US school of osteopathic medicine accredited by the AOA); that you hold a pass on the MCCQE; that your medical degree has been successfully source-verified through the MCC, or, in exceptional circumstances, that the executive director and CEO has accepted other evidence of your credentials; and that your LMCC application fee and any other MCC fees are paid.
The piece of this that catches people out is source verification. The MCC needs your medical degree and related documents confirmed with the institution that issued them, submitted through your physiciansapply.ca account; the MCC sets out how at How to submit your documents for source verification. For an IMG it is often the slowest step, because it depends on a university abroad answering on its own timetable. Start it early.
Where the Licentiate sits in an IMG’s timeline
The ordinary path: Open a physiciansapply.ca account. Begin source verification of your medical degree. Sit the MCCQE. If you are going through CaRMS, sit the NAC OSCE as well, because the NAC is what residency programs read and it is a separate examination with its own application windows. Apply to CaRMS. Match, and complete residency. Then apply to a provincial college for a licence, and to the Royal College or the CFPC for certification.
Notice where the LMCC falls. It is not a CaRMS prerequisite and it is not a substitute for the NAC OSCE. Programs want your MCCQE result and your NAC result; the Licentiate is not the thing that gets you an interview.
Cost and paperwork
The January change moved the cost as well as the requirements. The MCC’s LMCC page states that if you applied for the MCCQE after 26 January 2026, the Licentiate is issued automatically at no additional cost. The Licentiate is now issued digitally by default; the physical Testamur and wallet card that used to be sent out are no longer issued automatically, though they can still be bought on request. If you applied for the MCCQE before that date, the MCC charges a $50 fee when you request the LMCC (MCC Examination and service fees, checked 16 October 2026), and an optional printed Testamur or wallet card costs $100 each either way (MCC update of 26 January 2026).
Frequently asked questions
What does LMCC stand for?
Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada. Physicians whose names are in the Canadian Medical Register are known as Licentiates of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC), or in French Licenciés du Conseil médical du Canada (LCMC) (MCC: LMCC).
Is the LMCC a licence to practise in Canada?
No. The licence comes from the medical regulatory authority in the province or territory where you want to work, such as the CPSO in Ontario. The MCC describes the LMCC as part of the requirements those authorities set for issuing a licence (MCC: LMCC).
Do I still need the LMCC in Ontario?
Not if you are certified by the Royal College or the CFPC: under the policy reported in the October 2026 issue of CPSO Dialogue, you can be granted a provisional certificate to practise independently in Ontario without the MCCQE or the LMCC (CPSO Dialogue). IMGs entering residency through CaRMS must still, in general, have passed the MCCQE and the NAC; CaRMS notes some provinces may allow exceptions (CaRMS).
Is the MCCQE the same as the LMCC?
No. The MCCQE is the exam; the LMCC is your entry in the Canadian Medical Register. A pass on the MCCQE is one of its four requirements, with an eligible school, source-verified medical credentials and paid MCC fees (MCC: LMCC).
How do I get the LMCC?
Graduate from an eligible school, pass the MCCQE, have your medical degree source-verified through the MCC and have no outstanding MCC fees. If you applied for the MCCQE after 26 January 2026, the LMCC is issued automatically. If you applied before, request it in physiciansapply.ca under Other Service Requests, then Apply for LMCC, and pay the $50 fee (MCC: LMCC).
Where do I find my LMCC number?
In physiciansapply.ca, click Profile, then Identifiers and addresses: the LMCC number and registration date appear in the right panel. The digital number is the official proof of registration, and all medical regulatory authorities have access to the Canadian Medical Register (MCC: LMCC).
What to do this week
Then deal with the part you actually control, which is the examination. The MCCQE is the gate the Licentiate now hangs on. It is worth knowing how long an MCCQE result stays valid before you plan a sitting, and worth looking at how IMG and CMG pass rates actually compare rather than at forum folklore.
And prepare the way the examination is actually written — clinical decision-making under time pressure, not recall.
Start with 30 free questions and see where you are before you book anything.
This article explains a process; it is not legal or licensing advice, and the Medical Council of Canada and your provincial college are the authorities on their own requirements.
