Admissions FAQ
Please see below for the answers about frequently asked admissions questions for the TMU School of Medicine's MD program. We wil continue to add to this FAQ as additional questions come in, so please check this page frequently.
Have a question that is not answered here? Please email md.admissions@torontomu.ca. Please note that it may take 7 days to receive a response. We appreciate your patience.
General Questions
Application requirements are outlined on the TMU School of Medicine website.
No. The TMU School of Medicine accepts applications from students in any discipline.
The TMU School of Medicine has intentionally refrained from mandating a specific program of study or undergraduate prerequisite coursework for candidates applying to the MD program in order to attract a diverse range of applicants with varied educational experiences.
The TMU School of Medicine will use a multifaceted, holistic approach to identify students who possess the necessary academic capabilities, interpersonal skills and personal attributes required to excel in the medical profession. A range of academic and non-academic requirements will be considered. More information on application requirements and the selection process are available on our website.
No, the MCAT is not an application requirement for the TMU School of Medicine.
No, the CASPer test is not an application requirement for the TMU School of Medicine. All applicants meeting academic requirements will be invited to participate in an online asynchronous assessment hosted by a third-party vendor, Kira Talent.
Applicants of any age who meet the TMU School of Medicine's application requirements are welcome to apply.
The TMU School of Medicine is not accepting applications from international students at this time.
No, applicants who have previously attended TMU are not given preference in the application process.
TMU does not reserve specific seats for in-province or out-of-province applicants in the General Admissions Stream or the Indigenous, Black, and Equity-Deserving Admissions Pathways.
Academic Requirements
Equivalency will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. TMU reserves the right to be the final arbiter of what is equivalent to a four-year undergraduate degree.
Yes. Applicants who have completed studies outside of Canada or the United States must have their academic credentials/foreign transcripts assessed for Canadian equivalency by World Education Services (WES) (external link) . Further details regarding the assessment of international grades are available on the OMSAS website (external link) .
Yes. Completion of a minimum four-year undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in any program/discipline is required prior to the start of Year 1 of the MD Program. OMSAS must receive your final transcripts by June 30, 2025. Submitting an online transcript request by this date does not satisfy the deadline requirement.
At the end of the academic year, if you are still being considered for admission to the TMU School of Medicine and are currently attending university or college, you must arrange with your registrar’s office to forward a copy of your final transcript directly to OMSAS.
The GPA submitted with your application is your OMSAS GPA. OMSAS provides detailed information about how the OMSAS GPA is calculated on their website. (external link) If you have questions after reviewing this page, please contact OMSAS (external link) .
Completion of a minimum four-year undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in any program/discipline is required for all applicants prior to the start of Year 1 of the MD Program.
The TMU School of Medicine does not give preference to applicants who have completed graduate degrees.
Non-Academic Requirements
Applicants to the TMU School of Medicine's MD program must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents (landed immigrants) of Canada by the application deadline to be considered for admission to our program. Permanent residents must submit a copy of the front and back of their current/valid permanent resident card by the application deadline. Canadian citizens are not required to submit citizenship documentation at the time of application, but will also be required to provide such documentation as a condition of acceptance/registration.
Refugees who have obtained permanent resident status in Canada are welcome to apply.
Applicants must have obtained permanent residency in order to apply to the MD program. Proof of permanent residency must be provided as part of the application process.
The MD Program is only offered in English; therefore, TMU School of Medicine MD students must be proficient in spoken and written English. Although English language proficiency testing is not an application requirement, applicants’ written and spoken communication skills will be evaluated in the admissions process.
Admissions Pathways
No. If you have lived experience of more than one equity-deserving group, you can submit verification for any one eligibility group of your choosing. The verification documentation you choose will not affect your application.
You can only select one stream/pathway to apply to. If you are eligible for one of the three admissions pathways (Indigenous, Black or Equity-Deserving), you may choose to apply through that pathway. Should you be deemed ineligible for your chosen pathway, your application will automatically be considered in the General Admissions Stream should you meet the minimum admissions requirements.
Should you apply through an admissions pathway and be deemed ineligible for that pathway, your application will automatically be considered in the General Admissions Stream should you meet the minimum requirements.
The Indigenous Admissions Pathway was created to increase Indigenous respresenation in medicine and train future leaders in Indigenous Health in Canada. If you have Indigenous ancestry and are able to support your eligibility for the pathway as outlined in the application requirements, you are eligible to apply. The School of Medicine recognises that North American land borders are a colonial contstruct post-contact; as long as a potential applicant meets residency status/citizenship critiera of the school, they may be considered as above.
An applicant can apply through the Equity-Deserving Admissions Pathway if they are at least 26 years of age by September 1st of the year of admission, and have a minimum of 5 years of uninterrupted non-academic experience after any full-time study in a significant employment capacity and/or some combination of volunteer work, significant life skills and experiences (as of September 1 of the admission year).
Students who consider themselves members of an equity-deserving group and are eligible for the Equity-Deserving Admissions Pathway based on their lived experience in a non-traditional educational pathway can specify in their personal statement.
Please note that the TMU School of Medicine accepts applications from students with undergraduate degrees in any discipline; as such, the TMU School of Medicine does not consider undergraduate degrees in non-scientific disciplines to be non-traditional.
The TMU School of Medicine is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and accessible application process. We strive to ensure all candidates feel respected, valued, and supported, aiming to provide equitable access to our medical program by facilitating the necessary accommodations for candidates with documented disabilities.
Advanced Standing/Transfer
Yes. If you have already started another MD program, you may apply to TMU's program provided you meet our eligibility criteria. Please note that, as outlined in the Policy on Applications for Advanced Standing/Transfer to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program, the MD program will not accept any application for transfer to the TMU MD program regardless of the applicant’s present or past medical school enrollment.
You are required to disclose that you are attending another medical school and will be required to provide transcripts for any/all institutions attended, even if your grades are in progress.
As outlined in the Policy on Applications for Advanced Standing/Transfer to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program, the MD program will not accept any application for advanced standing to the TMU MD program regardless of the applicant’s present or past medical school enrollment or medical education.
The four-year curriculum in the TMU MD program is arranged in three phases across four years and integrated throughout; the program must be completed in its entirety in order for students to achieve its learning outcomes. As such, TMU will not accept any application for advanced standing/ transfer to the TMU MD program regardless of the applicant’s present or past medical school enrollment per the Policy on Applications for Advanced Standing/Transfer to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program.
Tuition, Financial Aid and Scholarships/Awards
The MD Program’s annual tuition rate for the 2025-2026 academic year is $25,604 CAD. TMU Mandatory Ancillary Fees will also apply. Tuition and fees are subject to change each year over the course of the four-year MD Program and will be listed on our website at the beginning of each admissions cycle, and also communicated to registered students.
Additional information around tuition, fees, financial aid/Ontario Student Assistance Program, and payment details will be communicated electronically/provided to successful applicants.
Scholarships/awards will be made available through the TMU Student Awards and Scholarships Office to help support TMU medical students with financial need, with a primary focus on students admitted through our Indigenous, Black, and Equity-Deserving admissions pathways, as well as those who demonstrate exceptional aptitude in healthcare innovation and leadership. Guidance and support to apply for scholarships and awards will also be available to our students.
Additional information around tuition, fees, financial aid/Ontario Student Assistance Program, and payment details will be communicated electronically/provided to successful applicants.
Yes. As with any program, a student may choose to work while pursuing their degree.
The Ontario Medical School Application Fee Waiver Program was developed to support medical school applicants facing financial barriers to applying to medical school. The program subsidizes the OMSAS application service fee and application costs for up to three (3) Ontario medical schools for qualifying applicants.
Details around eligibility criteria and how to apply to be considered for the fee waiver program are available on the program website (external link) .
Applicants who were already granted a fee waiver for the current application cycle will automatically have their waiver applied to their application to the TMU School of Medicine MD Program.
Academic Program
An overview of the MD curriculum and courses is available in the Academic Calendar.
The TMU MD program is an in-person program. Although select elements within the program may have virtual components, there are no options to complete the MD program virtually/remotely.
The TMU School of Medicine's admissions process is designed to identify and select applicants interested in primary care practice, particularly in medically underserved areas such as the Brampton/Peel Region and surrounding communities. We also aim to prepare our graduates to embrace generalism and to prioritize primary care. However, graduates of the TMU School of Medicine will be prepared to enter any medical residency program of their choosing. We hope that many of our graduates will choose to complete their residencies at TMU, but they will not be obligated to do so.
TMU currently offers the following R1 residency programs, with a focus on Family Medicine and high-demand specialties. More programs may be added in the future.
- Anesthesia
- Emergency Medicine
- Family Medicine
- General Surgery
- Internal Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Psychiatry
TMU MD students will have exposure to a wide variety of specialty areas in both clinic and hospital environments. Our unique 17-month Clerkship experience offers longitudinal placements in primary care clinics and hospital rotations in a wide variety of specialties. Selective and elective opportunities will also allow students to gain additional exposure to other specialties.
View our Academic Calendar to learn more about the curriculum and course offerings.
Regional Connection
Yes, the School of Medicine will accept applications from students across Canada. A connection to the Brampton/Peel Region and surrounding communities is not required to apply. We look forward to welcoming a diverse cohort of students committed to serving communities such as these, both from the region and beyond.
We assess regional connection within the supplementary question section of the application where we value both a connection to the region, as well as an interest in serving in culturally diverse communities such as these.
The school will use a multifaceted, holistic approach to identify students possessing the necessary academic capabilities, interpersonal skills and personal attributes required to excel in medicine.
For the purposes of assessing regional connection, the TMU School of Medicine defines Brampton/Peel Region and surrounding communities as follows:
- Peel: Brampton, Mississauga, Caledon
- Bolton
- Dufferin
- Halton: Milton, Burlington, Oakville, Halton Hills
- North Etobicoke
- West Woodbridge
Selection Process
The first round of MD admissions for TMU's School of Medicine will run on a different timeline from other Ontario medical schools for the inaugural class, running from October 9, 2024 to December 2, 2024 at 4:30 pm ET for the same 2025 entry as other Ontario schools. All supporting documentation such as transcripts, confidential assessment forms, identity verification documentation, etc. must accompany the application/be submitted by the TMU application deadline. All application deadlines and details on required materials are avilable via the OMSAS portal.
No. All applications will be reviewed after the application deadline of December 2nd, in keeping with the school's multifaceted, holistic approach to identify students possessing the necessary academic capabilities, interpersonal skills and personal attributes required to excel in medicine.