Gastroenterologist

The gut doctor. Scopes, liver disease and Crohn's, and five years of residency after medical school.

Typical pay: $311,000a year
Time to qualify: 11 to 13 yearsafter high school
Demand: Good
Licence needed: Yesregulated job

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Quick answers

How much does a gastroenterologist 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 a gastroenterologist in Canada?

11 to 13 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become a gastroenterologist?

$75,000 to $170,500 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as a gastroenterologist 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 a gastroenterologist in Canada?

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

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Gastroenterologist salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What gastroenterologists make

Median

$311,000

Lower end

$126,000

Upper end

$607,000

Job Bank does not give gastroenterologists a figure of their own. Its page for gastroenterologists 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. Provincial medians run from about $207,000 in Nova Scotia to about $344,000 in Manitoba and $343,000 in Quebec. 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. Scopes are done in hospitals, so practice costs are moderate. It varies by province and by how you bill.

What the health plan pays

About $596,000

Median gross clinical payment, gastroenterology doctors, 2024 to 2025

CIHI (Canadian Institute for Health Information) counts 951 doctors in this group. The middle 60% were paid $281,000 to $886,000. 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 $99,000

A year in Ontario on the scale from July 1, 2025, in postgraduate years 1 to 5 (PGY1 to PGY5): 3 years of internal medicine, then 2 of gastroenterology

Set by the 2023 to 2026 agreement between PARO (Professional Association of Residents of Ontario) and Ontario's teaching hospitals, the latest scale published. Other provinces have their own agreements and pay scales.

How you are paid

Mostly fee for service

Each scope, consult and clinic visit is billed to the provincial health plan

Your income depends on how many procedures and visits you bill and on your province's fee schedule. Academic jobs often mix billing with teaching and research, with steadier hours.

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
Licensing exam (the MCCQE, the national medical exam) and two Royal College exams (internal medicine, then gastroenterology): $1,500 for the MCCQE, plus two Royal College exam fees of several thousand dollars each

Roughly, all in

$75,000 to $170,500

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

The low end is three years of undergraduate study at $7,000 a year, a three year medical degree at $15,000 a year, and the exam and application fees, which is close to the cheapest real path in Canada. The high end is four years of undergraduate study and four years of medical school at the top of the tuition range, plus MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) costs, the MCCQE (Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination), and two Royal College exams of several thousand dollars each. The five years of residency after medical school are paid work, not tuition. Many people finish medical school with large student debt, and the interest on it is real money this figure does not include.

Many people finish medical school with large student debt. Five paid residency years help you pay it down.

Benefits

Pension only if salaried
Most are self-employed. Ontario residents are in HOOPP (the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) during training.
Union contract during residency
Provincial residents' associations negotiate pay, call limits and leave.
Malpractice coverage
Through the CMPA (Canadian Medical Protective Association): about $6,700 a year in Ontario in 2026, mostly reimbursed by the province.
Professional corporation
Most provinces let doctors incorporate, which lowers taxes on money left in the business.

How to become a gastroenterologist in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a gastroenterologist, step by step

You become an internal medicine doctor first, then a gut specialist.

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
Most applicants are turned down. Classes, then clinical rotations.
4
Internal medicine residency
3 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service). Hospital wards, the ICU (intensive care unit) and clinics. In year 3 you apply to the subspecialty match.
5
Gastroenterology residency, then certification
2 years
Endoscopy, liver clinics, inflammatory bowel disease and hospital consults. Some programs add a third research year. Pass the Royal College exams to become FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada) and register with your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons.

High school courses that help you become a gastroenterologist

Biology and chemistry
Digestion is chemistry. Required for nearly every pre-med path.
Calculus and functions
Physics
Tested on the MCAT (medical school admission test).
Anything hands-on
Steering a scope through a colon is a fine motor skill. Video games, sewing and instruments all count.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 11 to 13
Med school acceptance rate: Low, most applicants are turned down
Subspecialty match: Competitive, one of the most popular internal medicine choices
Total tuition: About $66,000 to $152,000
Paid while training?: Only during residency, 5 years of it

Heavily regulated

You need a licence from your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons to practise, and Royal College certification in both internal medicine and gastroenterology. Both are national credentials, so moving provinces is mostly paperwork. Quebec requires working French. Bowel surgery is done by general surgeons, a separate path; gastroenterologists diagnose, scope and treat with medicine.

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, then gastroenterology
5 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service). 3 years of internal medicine, then 2 of gastroenterology. At Montréal those 2 years run in French and include endoscopy and liver disease.
5
Royal College exam and CMQ (Collège des médecins du Québec) permit
End of residency
Pass the Royal College exams. 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 a gastroenterologist

Things you don't need, but that help.

Fellowships that change the job

Optional 1 to 2 year add-ons after residency.

Advanced endoscopy
Removing large growths, stenting blocked ducts and reaching the pancreas through the stomach. Procedure-heavy work, mostly at large hospitals.
Hepatology
Liver disease and transplant. Clinic-based, academic, lots of very sick patients.
Inflammatory bowel disease
Crohn's and colitis. Long-term patients and fast-changing drug therapy.
Motility and nutrition
Swallowing, reflux and gut function disorders. Fewer scopes, more thinking.

Nice-to-haves before med school

Research experience
Gastroenterology programs notice publications.
Steady hands and patience
A hard colonoscopy can take 45 minutes of careful steering.
French
Opens Ottawa, New Brunswick and Quebec programs.
A strong stomach
Literally. Bleeding, vomit and bowel prep are daily.

What being a gastroenterologist is really like

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

What a gastroenterologist does day to day

Two or three days a week in the endoscopy unit: 10 to 15 scopes, colonoscopies and gastroscopies, looking for polyps, ulcers, bleeding and cancer, removing what you can on the spot. Other days: a clinic of patients with Crohn's, reflux, liver disease or unexplained pain, plus consults from the hospital wards. On call, a bleeding ulcer at 2 a.m. means an emergency scope.

The honest pros and cons of being a gastroenterologist

The good

All five residency years are paid work
You find and remove cancer before it starts
A mix of procedures and thinking, not just one
Job Bank rates job prospects good or very good in every province

The hard parts

11 to 13 years of training after high school before full practice
Emergency bleeding call at any hour
Long waitlists mean patients arrive frustrated
Scope days are physically repetitive and can strain your back and hands

Work life

Typical hours: 50 to 60 a week including call
Remote work: Little, some virtual clinics
Physical demand: Moderate, long days standing at the scope
Unionized: Residents yes, attending doctors no

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being a gastroenterologist

Things people don't tell you.

Canada is a world capital of Crohn's

About 1 in 140 Canadians lives with Crohn's disease or colitis, and Canada has among the highest rates of these diseases in the world, according to Crohn's and Colitis Canada. Nobody fully knows why.

A scope that prevents cancer

About 25,300 people in Canada will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2026, the third leading cause of cancer death. It often starts as a precancerous growth, which a gastroenterologist can snip off during a colonoscopy before it turns into cancer.

How a gastroenterologist 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.