OTTAWA, ON, April 17, 2025 /CNW/ - Canada will welcome 3,873 graduating students and physicians into residency training programs after this year's R-1 Main Residency Match (R-1 match), the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) announced today.
A total of 3,014 Canadian medical graduates (CMGs) were matched to residency programs this year, across both iterations. The number of unmatched current year CMGs after the second iteration of the match was 49 (1.6 per cent), a decline from 54 (1.9 per cent) in 2024. Additionally, 851 international medical graduates (IMGs) and 8 United States medical graduates (USMGs) matched to residency positions this year. The number of IMGs matched in 2025 has increased significantly from 671 in 2024 and 555 in 2023.
The R-1 match is an integral step in the career progression of physicians in the Canadian healthcare system, as it determines where they will complete the residency training required to become licensed, independent physicians. The match is run in two iterations, or phases, and residency program positions that are not filled in the first iteration are moved to the second iteration of the match. For the 2025 R-1 match, first iteration Match Day was March 4, 2025 and second iteration Match Day was April 17, 2025. Matched applicants will begin their residency training on July 1, 2025.
The R-1 match offers a nationally coordinated application and matching process, enabling medical graduates and physicians to apply to residency positions across Canada through a single platform. However, healthcare is managed by the provinces and each jurisdiction determines available residency positions and establishes its own eligibility criteria for those positions. These criteria can vary significantly due to factors such as local healthcare priorities, language requirements, and return-of-service obligations. Consequently, not all applicants are eligible for all residency programs as eligibility can differ from one province to another.
In total, there were 3,991 positions in the 2025 R-1 match. For the first time this year, this included additional positions introduced in the second iteration at the request of Quebec faculties of medicine. These particular stream positions, located in Quebec, were added specifically for the second iteration and were open only to applicants who met specialized eligibility criteria.
Of the 3,942 positions initially offered in first iteration, 3,849 (97.6 per cent) were filled by the end of the two match iterations, as well as an additional 24 particular stream positions in second iteration, for a total of 3,873—the highest-ever number of positions filled. A total of 118 positions were unfilled after the match (91 positions offered in first iteration and 27 particular stream positions). Family Medicine positions accounted for 94 of the unfilled positions (82 positions offered in first iteration and 12 particular stream positions).
It is important to note that faculties of medicine can submit reversion instructions prior to the running of each iteration of the match to redistribute unfilled positions between programs, with the goal of maximizing the number of applicants matched. As a result, the number of residency positions and the programs they are allocated to going into the match may differ from what comes out, as position counts may be increased in some programs and decreased in others. Consequently, the final numbers reported in the match may vary slightly from the initial position counts due to this real-time adjustment to optimize the match process.
High-level match outcome data is now publicly available on carms.ca. More detailed match data and analysis of multi-year trends will be shared on the afternoon of April 30, 2025, when the full 2025 CaRMS Forum data set will be posted on carms.ca.
SOURCE Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS)
For further information: Lisa Turriff, Director, Marketing & Communications, [email protected]
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