Allergist and Immunologist

The doctor for allergies, asthma, hives and immune system problems. About 13 years of training, then office hours and very few emergencies.

Typical pay: $311,000a year
Time to qualify: 12 to 14 yearsafter high school
Demand: Good
Licence needed: Yesregulated job

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Where to study to become an allergist and immunologist in Canada

Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.

Microbiology and ImmunologyGuelph, 80-85%

Every university, each on its own page · Every college

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Quick answers

How much does an allergist and immunologist make in Canada?

The median pay is about $311,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $126,000 at the lower end to about $607,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become an allergist and immunologist in Canada?

12 to 14 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become an allergist and immunologist?

$77,000 to $170,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as an allergist and immunologist in Canada?

Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.

What is the job outlook for an allergist and immunologist in Canada?

Good demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.

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Allergist and Immunologist salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What allergists make

Median

$311,000

Lower end

$126,000

Upper end

$607,000

Job Bank does not give allergists a figure of their own. Its page for clinical immunologist-allergists uses the figure for all medical specialists: a median of about $311,000 a year (low $126,000, high $607,000) for 2023 to 2024. Most doctors in Canada bill the provincial health plan, and published billing figures are gross payments before office and practice costs, not take-home pay. An allergy clinic needs rooms, nurses and testing supplies, so practice costs are higher than in hospital work. It varies by province and by how you bill.

What the health plan pays

About $429,000

Median gross clinical payment, internal medicine, which CIHI groups with its subspecialties such as clinical immunology and allergy, 2024 to 2025

CIHI (Canadian Institute for Health Information) counts 14,004 doctors in this group. The middle 60% were paid $219,000 to $726,000. This is billing before office, staff and other practice costs, not take-home pay. Read from CIHI's data tables, downloaded in a browser with Claude in Chrome on 6 November 2026, because cihi.ca refuses our checker.

During residency

$73,000 to $104,000

A year in Ontario from July 1, 2025, in postgraduate years 1 to 6 (PGY1 to PGY6), over 5 to 6 years of residency

Set by the 2023 to 2026 agreement between PARO (Professional Association of Residents of Ontario) and Ontario's teaching hospitals. Other provinces have their own agreements and pay scales. The 2 allergy years come after 3 years of internal medicine or 4 years of pediatrics, so you are earning by then, but still paying down medical school debt.

Office hours, few emergencies

Mostly 9 to 5

Almost no nights or weekends once you are staff

Anaphylaxis is a real emergency, but it is treated in the emergency room, not by you at 3 a.m. Allergy is one of the most predictable weeks in medicine.

What it costs to get there

Undergrad degree (3 to 4 years): $7,000 to $10,000 a year
Medical school, the MD (doctor of medicine), 3 to 4 years: $15,000 to $28,000 a year
MCAT (medical school admission test), applications, interviews: $2,000 to $5,000
MCCQE (the national medical exam), then two Royal College exams: your core specialty and clinical immunology and allergy: $1,500 for the MCCQE, plus several thousand for each Royal College exam

Roughly, all in

$77,000 to $170,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is three years of undergraduate study at cheaper tuition, three years of medical school at the low end of Canadian medical tuition, one clean round of the MCAT (medical school admission test) and applications, and the exam fees. The high end is four undergraduate years plus four years at $28,000 a year for the MD (doctor of medicine), a heavier application season, and both Royal College exams, your core specialty first and then clinical immunology and allergy. The five or six years of residency after medical school are paid work, so they add fees but no tuition. Typical debt at the end of medical school is $80,000 to $150,000, and the interest on it is not in these numbers.

Typical debt at the end of medical school is $80,000 to $150,000. Residency pay slows the bleeding but rarely pays it off.

What comes with the job

No employer pension
Most allergists are self-employed and save through a professional corporation.
Union contract during residency
Provincial residents' associations negotiate pay, call limits and leave.
Malpractice coverage
Through the CMPA (Canadian Medical Protective Association). Fees are low for allergy.
Industry money
Drug companies fund a lot of allergy research and talks. Disclosure rules are strict.

How to become an allergist and immunologist in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming an allergist and immunologist, step by step

Every doctor's road, then a core specialty, then a second match into allergy.

1
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Top marks in biology, chemistry, math and English. You need a very high average for a science undergrad.
2
Bachelor's degree
3 to 4 years
Any major works. Keep a GPA (grade point average) above 3.8, volunteer, do research. Write the MCAT (medical school admission test).
3
Medical school, the MD (doctor of medicine)
3 to 4 years
Admission is very competitive. Classes, then clinical rotations.
4
Core residency
3 to 4 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service) into internal medicine (3 years) or pediatrics (4 years). Allergists see both adults and children, so both doors lead here.
5
Clinical immunology and allergy
2 years
A second match near the end of core residency. Two years of allergy clinics, skin testing, food challenges, asthma, immune deficiency and drug reactions. Pass the Royal College exams to become FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada), then register with your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons.

High school courses that help you become an allergist and immunologist

Biology and chemistry
Required for nearly every pre-med path. The immune system is biology at its most complicated.
Calculus and functions
Physics
Tested on the MCAT (medical school admission test).
English
Allergy visits are long conversations. Explaining risk clearly is the core skill.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 12 to 14
Med school admission: Very competitive
Allergy training spots: Small. Only a handful of programs across Canada.
Total tuition and exams: About $77,000 to $170,000
Paid while training?: Only during residency

Heavily regulated

You need a licence from your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons to practise, and Royal College certification in clinical immunology and allergy to call yourself an allergist. Family doctors and pediatricians treat plenty of allergies too, but only certified specialists use the title. The credential is national, so moving provinces is mostly paperwork.

Quebec routeIn Quebec? The route is different. 2 more cards.

The path in Quebec

In Quebec you apply to medical school straight from CEGEP (public college), with no bachelor's degree first.

1
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
With Secondary V math (Technical and Scientific, or Science option), chemistry and physics. These are the entry courses for the CEGEP (public college) science program.
2
Science DEC (Diploma of College Studies)
2 years
A 2 year CEGEP (public college) program (200.B1), offered in English at Dawson and the other English colleges. Take the biology and chemistry courses medical schools ask for.
3
Medical school, straight from CEGEP
4 to 5 years
No bachelor's degree needed. McGill and Montréal start with a 1 year preparatory year, Laval and Sherbrooke do not. You need a top R-score (the CEGEP ranking score), the Casper test and interviews.
4
Internal medicine or pediatrics, then allergy
5 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service). 3 years of internal medicine (adults) or pediatrics (children), then 2 of clinical immunology and allergy. Montréal and Laval train in French.
5
Royal College exam and CMQ (Collège des médecins du Québec) permit
End of residency
Pass the Royal College exam. The CMQ, the Quebec college of physicians, then issues your permit and specialist certificate once you show French. A Quebec high school diploma counts.
6
Get a hospital position
Before you start
Every specialist working in a Quebec hospital must hold a spot in its PEM (plan d'effectifs médicaux, the medical staffing plan). The health ministry approves how many each hospital gets.

Medical schools in Quebec

Université de Montréal: 1 preparatory year plus 4 years, in French, in Montreal or Trois-Rivières
McGill University: Med-P preparatory year plus 4 years, in English in Montreal or in French in Gatineau
Université Laval: 4 years (or 4.5 to 5 at your own pace in Quebec City), in French, in Quebec City, Lévis or Rimouski
Université de Sherbrooke: 4 years, in French, in Sherbrooke, Longueuil or Chicoutimi

Montréal and Laval set a minimum R-score (the CEGEP ranking score) of 33 for CEGEP applicants in 2026. McGill's Med-P year is only for recent CEGEP graduates.

What helps you get ahead as an allergist and immunologist

Things you don't need, but that help.

Ways to shape the practice

Food allergy and oral immunotherapy
Feeding tiny, growing doses of peanut or milk to build tolerance. Slow, careful, and in high demand from parents.
Immune deficiency
Rare patients whose immune systems do not work. Hospital-based, often with infusion treatments.
Drug allergy testing
Working out whether a penicillin label from childhood is real. Most are not.
Research and clinical trials
New biologic drugs for asthma and eczema keep arriving. Academic allergists run the trials.

Nice-to-haves

Research experience
Subspecialty programs weigh publications.
Detective patience
Finding the one trigger in a life full of them takes a good history and a lot of listening.
Comfort with needles
Skin prick tests, allergy shots and supervised food challenges are daily work.
French
Opens Quebec, Ottawa and New Brunswick programs and jobs.

What being an allergist and immunologist is really like

Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.

What an allergist and immunologist does day to day

Twenty to thirty patients. A child with a suspected peanut allergy gets skin prick tests on the forearm and you read the welts after 15 minutes. A teen with hives that will not go away. An adult whose asthma keeps flaring. A supervised food challenge where a patient eats small doses of egg while your nurse watches for a reaction, with epinephrine ready. Allergy shot patients come and go all day. Charting and letters to family doctors fill the gaps. Home by dinner.

The honest pros and cons of being an allergist and immunologist

The good

Regular hours and almost no emergencies
You give people back foods, pets and seasons they had lost
Kids and adults, clinic and research, lots of variety
Job Bank rates prospects good or very good everywhere it gives a rating

The hard parts

About 13 years of training and six figures of debt
Two matches to win, and the second is small
High volume can feel like a treadmill
Patients arrive with internet theories and want a test for everything

Work life

Typical hours: 40 to 50 a week, weekdays
Remote work: Some virtual follow-ups
Physical demand: Low
Unionized: Residents yes, staff doctors no

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being an allergist and immunologist

Things people don't tell you.

Many suspected allergies are not confirmed

About 7% of Canadians say they have a food allergy, Health Canada reports. Allergies a doctor actually diagnoses run nearer 3% to 4% of adults, which is why testing matters.

The peanut advice flipped

For years parents were told to keep peanut away from babies. Research then showed that feeding it early cuts the chance of peanut allergy, and Canadian guidance changed. Allergists are the ones who rewrite the rules when the evidence moves.

Allergy shots take years

Immunotherapy for pollen, dust mites or bee stings usually runs 3 to 5 years of regular injections. It is one of the few treatments that changes the allergy itself instead of just covering the symptoms.

You can be allergic to cold

Cold urticaria is a real diagnosis: hives that appear where skin touches ice or cold water. Allergists test for it with an ice cube on the arm.

How an allergist and immunologist compares

Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.

More health careers in Canada

Doctors first, then the rest of the field. See every career in health.

Where these numbers come from

Last checked November 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.