Oncologist

The cancer doctor. Long training, mostly salaried jobs in cancer centres, and patients who will remember you for the rest of their lives.

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 an oncologist 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 oncologist in Canada?

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

What does it cost to become an oncologist?

$76,000 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 oncologist 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 oncologist in Canada?

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

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Oncologist salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What oncologists make

Median

$311,000

Lower end

$126,000

Upper end

$607,000

Job Bank does not give medical oncologists a figure of their own. Its page for medical oncologists 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. Many oncologists work in cancer centres on a salary or contract. It varies by province.

What the health plan pays

About $429,000

Median gross clinical payment, internal medicine, which CIHI groups with its subspecialties such as medical oncology, 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 $99,000

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

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. Radiation oncology is a separate 5 year residency on the same pay scale.

Where pay is highest

About $343,500 a year

The median for all medical specialists in Manitoba, with Quebec almost the same

Nova Scotia has the lowest provincial median, about $207,000. Many oncologists are paid through provincial cancer agencies or hospital contracts rather than per patient seen.

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 Royal College exams (two for medical oncology): $1,500 for the MCCQE, plus two Royal College exam fees of several thousand dollars each

Roughly, all in

$76,000 to $170,000

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 two Royal College exams, first in internal medicine and then in cancer medicine. The high end is four years of each at higher tuition 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 interest on that is not included here.

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 and benefits
Common in cancer centre jobs, because the centres are employers. Ontario residents are in HOOPP (the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) during training and often after.
Union contract during residency
Provincial residents' associations negotiate pay, call limits and leave.
Malpractice coverage
Through the CMPA (Canadian Medical Protective Association), mostly reimbursed by the province.
Protected research time
Academic cancer centres often pay for a day a week of research or teaching.

How to become an oncologist in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming an oncologist, step by step

Medical oncologists train through internal medicine first. Radiation oncologists have their own residency.

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.
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
Medical oncology residency, then certification
2 years
Cancer clinics, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, clinical trials. 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 an oncologist

Biology and chemistry
Cancer treatment is applied cell biology and pharmacology.
Calculus and functions
Drug dosing and trial statistics are daily math.
Physics
Tested on the MCAT (medical school admission test). Essential for radiation oncology.
English
Delivering bad news well is a skill you will use every day.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 11 to 13
Med school acceptance rate: Very competitive: most applicants are turned down
Subspecialty match: Moderately competitive
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 medical oncology, radiation oncology or hematology. These are national credentials, so moving provinces is mostly paperwork. Quebec requires working French. Cancer surgery is done by surgeons, a separate path.

Where oncologists work

Cancer care in Canada runs through provincial centres. Some of the big ones:

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, and the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Ontario
BC (British Columbia) Cancer, six centres across the province
British Columbia
Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, and Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary
Alberta
CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg
Manitoba
Jewish General and CHUM (the University of Montreal hospital centre)
Quebec

Quebec routeIn Quebec? The route is different. 3 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 medical oncology
5 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service). 3 years of internal medicine, then 2 of medical oncology. At Montréal the oncology years run in French.
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.

Hemato-oncology in Quebec

Quebec has a combined route for doctors who want to treat blood cancers as well as other cancers. At Université de Montréal, after 3 years of internal medicine and 2 of hematology, you can add 1 year of medical oncology instead of the usual 2. That 6 year route makes you eligible for Royal College certificates in both, as a hemato-oncologist.

What helps you get ahead as an oncologist

Things you don't need, but that help.

Three kinds of oncologist

They work side by side, but train differently.

Medical oncologist
Drugs: chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted pills. Internal medicine plus 2 years.
Radiation oncologist
Radiation beams aimed at tumours. Its own 5-year residency, heavy on physics.
Hematologist
Blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, plus bone marrow transplant. Internal medicine plus 2 years.
Pediatric oncologist
Childhood cancer. Pediatrics residency plus a 3-year fellowship.

Nice-to-haves before med school

Research experience
Oncology runs on clinical trials. Lab or research work is a strong signal.
Volunteering in palliative or hospice care
Shows you can be present with dying people.
French
Opens Ottawa, New Brunswick and Quebec programs.
Emotional steadiness
You will lose patients you like. Know how you cope with grief.

What being an oncologist is really like

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

What an oncologist does day to day

Clinic from 8 a.m.: 15 to 25 patients, some newly diagnosed and terrified, some mid-treatment, some in remission for a check-up. Each visit means reviewing scans and blood work, adjusting doses, managing side effects. A tumour board meeting at lunch where surgeons, radiologists and pathologists plan cases together. Afternoon: more clinic, or trial paperwork and research. Call is light compared with most specialties.

The honest pros and cons of being an oncologist

The good

Treatments are improving fast and you get to use them first
Salaried jobs with pensions and predictable hours
Deep, long relationships with patients and families
Research is built into the job

The hard parts

Patients die, regularly, and you told them the news
Emotional burnout is a real career risk
Almost all jobs are in cities with cancer centres
A decade plus of school and six figures of debt

Work life

Typical hours: 45 to 55 a week, light call
Remote work: Some virtual follow-ups
Physical demand: Low
Unionized: Residents yes, many attending oncologists have staff contracts

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being an oncologist

Things people don't tell you.

254,100 new cases a year

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates 254,100 new cancer cases and 87,900 cancer deaths in Canada in 2026. Found at stage 1, breast, prostate, colon and rectal cancers have 5-year survival better than 90%.

Good prospects almost everywhere

Job Bank counted about 34,000 medical specialists in Canada in 2023 and rates the outlook good or very good in every province where it gives a rating.

How an oncologist 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.