Obstetrician-Gynecologist

Delivers babies and treats everything from fertility to cancer of the reproductive organs. Five years of residency, surgery, and babies at 3 a.m.

Typical pay: $419,000a 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 an obstetrician-gynecologist make in Canada?

The median pay is about $419,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $144,000 at the lower end to about $767,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become an obstetrician-gynecologist in Canada?

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

What does it cost to become an obstetrician-gynecologist?

$73,000 to $166,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as an obstetrician-gynecologist 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 obstetrician-gynecologist in Canada?

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

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Obstetrician-Gynecologist salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What ob-gyns make

Median

$419,000

Lower end

$144,000

Upper end

$767,000

Job Bank does not give ob-gyns (obstetrician-gynecologists) a figure of their own. Its page for obstetrician-gynecologists uses the figure for all specialists in surgery: a median of about $419,000 a year (low $144,000, high $767,000) 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. Office costs and insurance fees come out of billings. It varies by province and by how you bill.

What the health plan pays

About $464,000

Median gross clinical payment, obstetrician-gynecologists, 2024 to 2025

CIHI (Canadian Institute for Health Information) counts 2,610 doctors in this group. The middle 60% were paid $243,000 to $681,000. 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 from July 1, 2025, in postgraduate years 1 to 5 (PGY1 to PGY5), over the 5 years of obstetrics and gynecology 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 highest malpractice fees in medicine

$54,924 a year in Ontario

The 2026 CMPA (Canadian Medical Protective Association) fee for obstetrics, the highest of any type of work

The same fee is $41,424 in British Columbia and Alberta, $10,992 in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Atlantic Canada and the territories, and $2,236.68 in Quebec. Birth injuries lead to the largest lawsuits. Provinces reimburse part of the fee, so the real hit to income is smaller than it looks.

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 the Royal College certification exam: $1,500 for the MCCQE, plus several thousand for the Royal College exam

Roughly, all in

$73,000 to $166,000

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

The low end is a three year undergraduate degree and a three year medical school at the cheaper end of Canadian tuition, plus the MCAT (medical school admission test), the MCCQE (the national medical licensing exam) and the Royal College certification exam. The high end is four years of each at the priciest schools with the full range of application and exam fees. The five residency years are paid work and add no tuition. Most graduates leave medical school owing $80,000 to $150,000, and the interest on that borrowing is not counted in these numbers.

Typical debt at the end of medical school is $80,000 to $150,000. Five paid residency years help you pay it down.

Benefits

Pension only if salaried
Most ob-gyns 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). Expensive for obstetrics, mostly reimbursed.
Professional corporation
Most provinces let doctors incorporate, which lowers taxes on money left in the business.

How to become an obstetrician-gynecologist in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming an obstetrician-gynecologist, step by step

Same road as every doctor, then 5 years that are half medicine, half surgery.

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, and most applicants are turned down. Classes, then clinical rotations. You will deliver your first baby as a student.
4
Obstetrics and gynecology residency
5 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service). Labour and delivery, caesarean sections, gynecologic surgery, fertility, cancer and ultrasound.
5
Certification and licence
End of residency
Pass the Royal College exam to become FRCSC (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada), then register with your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons.

High school courses that help you become an obstetrician-gynecologist

Biology and chemistry
Required for nearly every pre-med path.
Calculus and functions
Physics
Tested on the MCAT (medical school admission test).
English
You will guide people through the best and worst days of their lives.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 11 to 13
Med school acceptance rate: Very competitive: most applicants are turned down
Residency match: 108 first-year spots across Canada in 2026
Total tuition: $66,000 to $152,000
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 obstetrics and gynecology. It is counted as a surgical specialty. Midwives and family doctors also deliver babies in Canada, but caesareans and gynecologic surgery are done by ob-gyns, apart from some specially trained rural family doctors who do caesareans. The Royal College 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
Obstetrics and gynecology residency
5 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service), as in the rest of Canada. Montréal, Laval and Sherbrooke 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 obstetrician-gynecologist

Things you don't need, but that help.

Fellowships that change the job

Each is 2 to 3 years after residency.

Maternal-fetal medicine
High-risk pregnancies: twins, diabetes, babies with problems found on ultrasound.
Gynecologic oncology
Cancer of the ovaries, uterus and cervix. Big surgery, chemotherapy, hard conversations.
Reproductive endocrinology and infertility
IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics. Often private, with regular hours.
Urogynecology
Pelvic floor and bladder problems after childbirth and with age.

Nice-to-haves before med school

Research experience
Helps at some schools.
Doula or birth volunteering
Shows you have seen a real birth and still want this.
French
Opens Ottawa, New Brunswick and Quebec programs.
Fine motor skills
Sewing, instruments, video games. Surgery rewards steady hands.

Gynecology only

Some ob-gyns stop delivering babies after 10 or 15 years and keep only the office and surgery side. No more 3 a.m. births, lower insurance fees, predictable hours. It is a common way to make the career last.

What being an obstetrician-gynecologist is really like

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

What an obstetrician-gynecologist does day to day

Office days: 20 to 30 patients for prenatal visits, pap tests, heavy periods, menopause, fertility questions. Surgery days: hysterectomies and laparoscopies from 8 a.m. On call: you live on the labour floor for 24 hours, managing several labours at once, and when a baby's heart rate drops you have minutes to decide on a caesarean. Then you sleep, if you can.

The honest pros and cons of being an obstetrician-gynecologist

The good

You are there for the happiest moment of most people's lives
Mix of surgery, medicine and long-term relationships
Job Bank's median for all surgeons is about $419,000 a year
Real subspecialty options, from fertility to cancer

The hard parts

Babies come at night, on weekends and on holidays
When a birth goes wrong it is devastating and often ends in a lawsuit
Highest malpractice fees of any specialty
A decade of school and six figures of debt

Work life

Typical hours: 55 to 65 a week including call
Remote work: None
Physical demand: High, long surgeries and 24-hour call shifts
Unionized: Residents yes, attending doctors no

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being an obstetrician-gynecologist

Things people don't tell you.

108 new ob-gyns a year

The 2026 residency match offered 108 first-year obstetrics and gynecology positions across Canada, and 106 were filled in the first round.

Three kinds of birth attendant

In Canada, babies are delivered by ob-gyns (obstetrician-gynecologists), family doctors and midwives. Ob-gyns take on the high-risk pregnancies and the surgery, and pay the highest malpractice fee of any type of medical work.

How an obstetrician-gynecologist 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.