US Medical Schools That Accept Canadian Applicants

According to the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) 2027 admission guide, Canada has 19 faculties of medicine, where the majority of seats are allocated to permanent residents of the province in which the university is located. Most US MD programs use the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) as their centralized primary application. To practice both Canadian MMIs and US one-on-one interviews out loud, you can use our <a href="/canada">Canadian medical school interview prep</a> tool with an AI interviewer that asks follow-up questions. Start your free week.

Policies on non-US citizens vary by institution, so verify each school before applying. By our calculation from AAMC data on the 2025 application cycle (which includes applicants applying through TMDSAS in Texas), 24.8% of foreign applicants to US MD-granting programs were accepted, 22.2% matriculated, and 89.3% of accepted foreign applicants enrolled.

To check which schools accept Canadian applicants for free, use the AAMC's 22 public PDF reports for the 2027 Entering Class. The "Applications Accepted Information" report shows whether each institution accepts out-of-state, international, Canadian, and DACA applicants.

Osteopathic (D.O.) medical school program information does not appear in the AAMC database. Confirm D.O. Canadian admission policies directly with each osteopathic medical school.

AMCAS does not accept or verify overseas foreign transcripts, and it does not calculate an AMCAS GPA for unverified foreign coursework. Canadian institutions are the exception. AMCAS accepts and verifies official transcripts from accredited US, US Territorial, and Canadian postsecondary institutions, and calculates a verified AMCAS GPA from your Canadian coursework.

If you took courses outside the US or Canada (for example, on a study abroad term), AMCAS will verify those courses and include them in your AMCAS GPA if the credit was accepted by an accredited Canadian, US, or US Territorial postsecondary institution and appears on that school's official transcript. If overseas courses were not accepted as transfer credit on an accredited Canadian or US transcript, you can still list them on AMCAS, but they will not be verified and no AMCAS GPA will be calculated, though individual medical schools may ask for those transcripts in their secondary application. For context on non-North American curricula, Randee Reid, admissions and residency officer at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, notes on the AAMC international applicant page that prospective applicants taking prerequisite coursework as non-degree-seeking students at a US accredited four-year institution need 30 credit hours or more completed before applying so schools can evaluate their progress.

To check prerequisites across US MD programs, download the AAMC's free "Premedical Coursework Chart" PDF, which shows required and recommended coursework for each school (including AP, community college, and online course policies), along with the "Community College Coursework Information" and "Latest and Oldest MCAT Test Administration Dates Considered" PDF reports. If you are also applying in Ontario, see our guide to the <a href="/articles/omsas">OMSAS application and GPA calculation</a> to compare how your transcript is weighted.

• Official transcripts: One official transcript is required from every accredited Canadian, US, or US Territorial postsecondary institution where you attempted coursework, whether or not credit was earned. This includes college-level courses attempted in high school, withdrawals, failures, audits, extension programs with separate transcripts, correspondence and home-study programs, and military coursework.
• Direct submission: Transcripts must be sent directly by your university registrar's office. Transcripts forwarded or emailed by the applicant (even if sealed) or issued to another recipient are treated as unofficial and are not processed.
• Processing buffer: Each university has its own transcript processing time, and delivery to Washington, D.C. takes additional days, so request transcripts early.

All US medical schools and many Canadian medical schools require the MCAT exam. The exam is about seven hours long and tests four sections (Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior, and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills), each scored from 118 to 132 (midpoint 125) for a total score between 472 and 528 (midpoint 500). The MCAT is administered in English, and your registration name must be in English and match your MCAT-accepted ID.

The standard MCAT registration fee is $355 USD. However, the AAMC and AFMC run a Fee Assistance Program for Canadian examinees in financial need who register for the MCAT and AAMC PREview exams. Approved Canadian examinees pay $145 USD for MCAT registration, receive reduced scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellation rates, and can apply for financial assistance toward an updated evaluation for MCAT accommodations.

Benefits are not retroactive. You must apply through the AFMC website and be approved before you schedule, reschedule, or cancel your MCAT or PREview exam. For Canadian applications, AFMC also runs a separate Medical School Application Fee Waiver Program that waives most or all application fees at nine participating faculties: University of Ottawa, Queen's University, University of Toronto, NOSM University, Toronto Metropolitan University, McMaster University, Western University, University of Saskatchewan, and University of Alberta.

US federal student aid (such as Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Direct PLUS Loans) is only available to students who meet US federal student aid eligibility requirements.

In most cases, international students at US medical schools must secure private loans or institutional loans if offered by the medical school. In some cases, US medical schools require international applicants to prove they have sufficient financial resources to pay for all four years up front, or require applicants to deposit the full four-year amount into an escrow account before matriculating.

Before paying application fees, check the AAMC's free "Tuition, Fees and Insurance Information", "Debt Information", and "Deposit Due Date" PDF reports (which show first-year estimated costs, whether health insurance fees can be waived with comparable coverage, and whether deposits are refundable), and ask the financial aid and admissions offices at each target school whether Canadian citizens qualify for institutional aid and whether a multi-year escrow deposit is required.

Canadian medical schools primarily use three models: the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI), developed at McMaster University in 2002 with 6 to 10 timed stations of 5 to 10 minutes each, the traditional panel interview with three or four evaluators (community members, faculty, medical students, and practicing physicians), and the CASPer situational judgment test (a 65 to 85 minute online test with 4 video-response scenarios at 1 minute per question and 7 typed-response scenarios at 3.5 minutes per pair of questions). Eleven of Canada's 19 medical schools use CASPer in the current cycle.

US medical schools use video interviews, in-person one-on-one interviews, and MMIs, and some require the AAMC PREview exam. Check which schools use MMIs in our <a href="/articles/medical-schools-that-use-mmi">list of medical schools that use the MMI</a>, and review individual school policies in the AAMC's free "Interview Policies" and "PREview Professional Readiness Exam Policies" PDF reports.

US interviews commonly ask personal and fit questions such as "Why do you want to be a doctor?" and "Why do you want to attend our school?" Interview days are also your chance to tour the campus and ask how students are evaluated, how they perform on National Board Examinations, and what research or stress management resources exist. Afterward, send an email or handwritten thank-you note using the contact information provided.

• Know your rights in US interviews: US interviewers are guided by federal statutes prohibiting unfair or discriminatory pre-admission inquiries (including questions about age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, marital status, income, credit score, opinion on abortion or euthanasia, plans for children, disabilities, arrests, or drug use).
• How to report an inappropriate question: Medical schools must establish confidential reporting procedures. Report the interviewer's name and the question in confidence to an admissions officer during the interview day, or by email within 24 hours noting the date and time. You have the right to ask for another interview for an unbiased evaluation.

If you study medicine outside Canada, returning for postgraduate residency training or medical practice in Canada may prove difficult. Limitations on recognizing international medical degrees apply to Canadian citizens as well as non-citizens, and strong academic preparation is no guarantee that you will be able to train or practice in Canada.

If you attend a US medical school and want to keep the option to return to Canada for residency, use AFMC's official tools and rules during medical school:

• Visiting electives via the AFMC Student Portal: The bilingual AFMC Student Portal is open to both Canadian and international undergraduate medical students to search and apply for visiting electives at Canadian faculties of medicine. You can browse electives before paying the registration fee.
• The 8-week elective cap: Under the AFMC Student Elective Diversification Policy (in place since the Class of 2021), your visiting and home electives cannot exceed 8 weeks in any single entry-level (PGY-1/R1) discipline leading to RCPSC or CCFP certification. Electives in PGY-3 (R3) subspecialties (such as Internal Medicine and Pediatrics subspecialties) count as separate disciplines and do not count toward the 8-week cap.
• Exploring residency programs: Use CANPREPP (Canada's Portal for Residency Program Promotion), an AFMC virtual platform to research and connect with Canadian residency programs, along with AFMC's "Demystifying the Resident Match" and "Preparing for Residency Registration Requirements" resources. AFMC also lists certified English and French translators who offer discounted rates for residency match applications using the code AFMC.
• IMG classification and USMLE Step 2 recognition note: Licensing and exam rules for graduates who studied outside Canada vary by province and school. For example, in McGill University's MD-CM entry, IMGs with medical degrees from US schools earned in 2025 or later may use USMLE Step 2 in place of the Medical Council of Canada MCCQE Part 1 and NAC exams for its advanced standing and IMG streams.

You may be asked why you want to attend a specific medical school, and for a Canadian applicant, preparing for that question includes explaining why you are applying south of the border. Below is a practice prompt and an example answer written by our team (the applicant is invented).

To rehearse your own answer out loud with timed follow-up questions and rubric feedback, Confetto runs AI mock interviews for both US and Canadian formats. Start your free week.

You completed your undergraduate degree in Canada. Why are you applying to our US medical school instead of staying in Canada, and where do you see yourself practicing after graduation?

• AAMC: Applying to Medical School as an International Applicant
• AFMC: Admission Requirements of Canadian Faculties of Medicine (2027 Entry)
• AAMC: Fee Assistance Program for Canadian Examinees
• AAMC: Reports for Applicants and Advisors (Free PDF Reports)
• AAMC: Preparing for Medical School Interviews
• AFMC: Undergraduate Students, Visiting Electives, CANPREPP & Diversification Policy
• AAMC: Timeline for Application and Admission to Medical School
• AAMC: Required Application Materials (Transcripts and Letters)