Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)

Doctor Mobility in Canada

The Regulation respecting authorizations to practice the medical profession outside Québec allowing for the issuance of a Collège des médecins du Québec permit to practice and specialist’s certificate has been in effect since November 25, 2010. This Regulation establishes the conditions under which a physician who holds a “regular” permit to practice (permit without any restriction or limitation) issued by the College of Physicians of a Canadian province or territory may obtain a permit to practice in Québec and, thus, work in the province. 

To obtain a “regular” permit to practice in Québec and a specialist’s certificate in family medicine or other recognized specialty, the physician must:

• hold a “regular” permit to practice (permit without any restriction or limitation) issued by the College of Physicians of a Canadian province or territory;
• hold a specialist’s certificate issued by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or a certificate in family medicine issued by the College of Family Physicians of Canada; however, a holder of a regular permit to practice family medicine issued by the College of Physicians of a Canadian province or territory prior to 1994 is exempt from the obligation to hold a certificate in family medicine.
  

All physicians who meet the aforementioned criteria and wish to obtain a permit to practice in Québec must submit an application for the permit to practice accompanied by the required documents. A permit will be issued once the prerequisite conditions have been met.

The purpose of this new Regulation is to support section VII of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) that came into effect April 1, 2009. The stipulations of this Agreement concerning labour mobility signed by the Employment Ministers of the 10 Canadian provinces on December 5, 2008 define the terms and conditions for the issuance of a permit to practice for all regulated trades and professions on a “permit for permit” basis.