Restrictive permit – Physician trained and certified in the United States

The restrictive permit for physicians trained and certified in the United States to practice medicine in Québec is intended for physicians currently in active practice.

The restrictive permit for physician trained and certified in the United States, according to section 35 of the Medical Act, is issued by the CMQ based on established guidelines (available in French only), which require, among other things, postgraduate training in a specialty other than family medicine, that is globally equivalent, and a certification by the American Board of Medical Specialities.

Learn more about the guidelines

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Restrictive permit for physician trained and certified in the United States

This permit is restricted with respect to 3 aspects:

place of practice (only authorized to practice in a health care institution; the permit does not authorize “independent” or private practice);
authorized professional acts;
validity (one year, renewable annually).

These guidelines also set out criteria for revoking a restrictive permit:

the permit holder is struck off or resigns from the Roll of the Order;
the permit holder no longer has privileges in health care institutions, confirmed by a resolution of the health care institution’s board of directors;
the permit holder ceases to practice.

The Committee on Admission to Practice (CAP) is responsible for issuing, renewing, and modifying restrictive permits.

A restrictive permit may be converted into a regular permit subject to certain requirements.

Find out more about converting a restrictive permit

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Requirements

You have a Doctor of Medicine degree or an equivalent degree from a school or faculty listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools published by the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) or from a faculty of medicine of that university is accredited by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada or the Liaison Committee on Medical Education on the date the diploma is granted;

You have passed the 3 components of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE);
You have completed postgraduate training in a university postgraduate training in medicine accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education that is roughly equivalent to that required in Québec for the discipline for which the restrictive permit application is being submitted;
You hold a certification from the American Board of Medical Specialites in the discipline for which the restrictive permit application is being submitted;
You practiced competently in the area of medical expertise for which the restrictive permit application is being submitted for 12 months during the 3 years preceding your application;

You provided proof of French language proficiency or have taken the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) examination before your permit is issued;

You completed the ALDO-Québec educational activity before your permit was issued.

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Steps

Note that the CMQ does not take part in every step of the process.

Thus, the deadlines provided at certain steps are given for information purposes. They can vary significanlty depending on the indivual background of the candidates. The deadlines provided at certain steps are therefore for information purposes only.

Important

Given the length of the process (3 to 5 months on average) and the requirement to maintain your clinical experience, we encourage you to keep practicing as you complete the steps.

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To submit an application, log in to your personal physiciansapply.ca account on the Medical Council of Canada website, then select:

Application for medical registration

QC Collège des médecins du Québec

Restrictive permit – Clinician sponsored by Recrutement Santé Québec

Once your application has been submitted to the CMQ, an invoice will be posted in your secure section on the CMQ website based on the actual fee schedule.

You must also provide the required documents, some of which must be sent to the Collège while others must be submitted through physiciansapply.ca for source verification purpose.

It is your responsibility to follow up on the documents you submitted and disclosed to the Collège those you submitted through the physiciansapply.ca portal. Note that the documents must be given the “Passed” verification status before the restrictive permit can be issued.

Lead times

Acknowledgement of receipt of the application for medical registration: 5 business days.
You have completed step 1? Your file is now ready for review by the CAP! This committee regularly convenes to assess the eligibility of applications for a restrictive permit. You will then be notified of the CAP’s decision.

Lead times

CAP meetings: approximately every 7 weeks;

Decision of the Committee: available in the secure section on the CMQ website within 15 business days following the meeting.

You may request that the Collège’s Request Committee review the decision, provided you submit your request in writing to the secretary of the CAP within 30 days following the receipt of the CAP’s decision letter. The Request Committee also gives you the opportunity to attend the meeting where your file will be reviewed and make oral observations. The Request Committee’s decision will be shared with you within 30 days following the date of said decision. This decision is final and cannot be appealed.
Section 35 of the Charter of the French language (Charte de la langue française) stipulates that “The professional orders shall not issue permits except to persons whose knowledge of the official language is appropriate to the practice of the profession.”

If you are unable to provide proof of your knowledge of French, you must have attempted the OQLF exam before the restricted permit is issued.
If the CAP has resolved to issue you the restrictive permit, you will be asked to:

complete the ALDO-Québec educational activity which covers the legal, ethical, and organizational aspects of the practice of medicine in Québec, before the restrictive permit is issued;

log in to the secure section on the CMQ website to:

fill out the “Update of medical activities and Declarations” form;
pay the permit issuance fees based on the actual fee schedule.

Lead times

Acknowledgement of receipt of the “Update of medical activities and Declarations” form: 24h to 48h;

Issuance of the permit within 24h to 48h once the file is complete (i.e., when all required conditions are met).

For more information, please contact the Collège’s permit section at demandepermis@cmq.org.

Once you have received your permit to practice, and before you start practicing medicine in Québec, you must:

take out professional liability insurance (and maintain it thereafter);

fill out the “First registration on the Roll of the Order” form in the secure section of the CMQ website.

Lead times

Processing of your first registration on the Roll of the Order and relay of your permit number and the confirmation from your professional liability insurance to the RAMQ on the business day following your registration to the Roll of the Order.

At this point, you do not have to follow any procedure with the RAMQ. If you have any questions, please visit the RAMQ website (available in French only).

For more information

Please send an e-mail to permisfqc@cmq.org.

Conversion du permis restrictif

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The restrictive permit for physicians trained and certified in the United States to practice medicine in Québec is intended for physicians currently in active practice.

Restrictive permit for physician trained and certified in the United States

Requirements

Steps

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