Physician Assistant

What physician assistants make

Job Bank's national median is $46.81 an hour, about $97,000 a year full time, with a low of $24.09 (about $50,000) and a high of $60.26 (about $125,000). The low looks like part-time work and survey noise: Alberta's job profile cites a 2024 average of about $131,000 from CAPA (the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants), and most full-time new graduates start closer to $80,000. Pay is set by the employer, usually a hospital or clinic, and varies by province.

Starting pay

Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario hospitals pay the most. Where PAs (physician assistants) are new and unregulated, jobs are fewer and pay is less predictable.

Top end

The Canadian Armed Forces were the first big employer of PAs and still train and pay their own, on the military pay scale.

What it costs to get there

Bachelor's degree (2 to 4 years)

$7,000 to $10,000 a year

PA (physician assistant) program, about 2 years

Roughly $10,000 to $25,000 a year, depending on the school

PACE (the national PA certification exam)

Fee set by PACCC (the Physician Assistant Certification Council of Canada)

Provincial registration, where required

A few hundred dollars a year

Roughly, all in

$36,000 to $93,000

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

The low end is two years of undergraduate study at a cheaper university, then a two year physician assistant program at the bottom of its fee range, plus the national certification exam and the first year of registration where the province requires it. The high end is a full four year bachelor's degree and a physician assistant program at the most expensive schools. This is far cheaper than medical school and puts you in paid work about four years sooner. Registration and certification maintenance are small yearly costs after that.

Far cheaper than medical school, and you are earning within about 6 years of high school instead of 10 or more.

Benefits

• Public pension in hospitals

  HOOPP (the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) in Ontario hospitals; similar public plans elsewhere.

• Extended health and dental

• Paid vacation and sick days

  Salaried employees, not fee-for-service.

• Union coverage in some hospitals

  Depends on the province and employer. Clinics vary.

The path

University science, a 2-year program, a national exam.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Strong marks in biology, chemistry and math. Get some health care exposure: volunteering, first aid, a hospital job.

2. 2

   University

   2 to 4 years

   At least 2 years of a bachelor's degree with anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. Most programs prefer a finished degree and real health care experience.

3. 3

   PA (physician assistant) program

   About 2 years

   Master's or bachelor's level, about 2 years: a year of classes, then a year of clinical rotations through medicine, surgery, emergency, pediatrics, psychiatry and family practice. Programs at McMaster, the University of Toronto, the University of Manitoba (25 months) and the University of Calgary, plus the Canadian Armed Forces for serving members.

4. 4

   Certification exam

   After graduation

   Pass the PACE (the national PA certification exam), run by PACCC (the Physician Assistant Certification Council of Canada), to use the CCPA (Canadian Certified Physician Assistant) title.

5. 5

   Register where required

   A few months

   Several provinces, including Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick, register PAs through their College of Physicians and Surgeons. Then find a supervising physician and a job.

High school courses that help

• Biology and chemistry

  Required for the university prerequisites.

• Math

  Drug doses and lab values every day.

• English

  You write the chart and talk to patients more than the doctor does.

• Physical education or kinesiology

  Anatomy in motion.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school

4 to 6

Admission

Competitive; Manitoba says a competitive GPA (grade point average) is around 3.5, and the CASPer (situational judgment test) is required

Total tuition

$40,000 to $80,000

Paid while training?

No. The clinical year is full-time unpaid work.

Regulated, province by province

PAs (physician assistants) always work under a supervising doctor and cannot practise on their own. Alberta has required registration with its College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2023, and Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons now regulates PAs too, along with Manitoba and New Brunswick. In other provinces the job is still new and rules are catching up. The CCPA (Canadian Certified Physician Assistant) credential is national, so moving is mostly paperwork where the province recognizes the role.

Where people study

• McMaster University, Hamilton

  One of the first civilian programs in Canada.

• University of Toronto

  Consortium program with a northern stream.

• University of Manitoba, Winnipeg

  Master of Physician Assistant Studies, 25 months.

• University of Calgary

  Master of Physician Assistant Studies.

• Canadian Armed Forces

  Trains its own PAs (physician assistants) from serving medical technicians.

Where PAs (physician assistants) work

• Emergency department

  Seeing lower-acuity patients start to finish, with a doctor reviewing.

• Surgery

  First assistant in the operating room, plus pre-op and post-op care.

• Family practice

  Extending a family doctor's roster. The fastest-growing area.

• Orthopedics and fracture clinics

  Casts, follow-ups, injections.

• Psychiatry and internal medicine

  Ward rounds and follow-up clinics.

Nice-to-haves

• A prior health care job

  Paramedics, nurses, respiratory therapists and medical technicians make up a big share of PA (physician assistant) classes.

• Comfort being second

  The doctor signs off. If you need to be in charge, look at nurse practitioner or medicine instead.

• French

  Opens Quebec and New Brunswick posts as the role spreads.

• Volunteering

  Programs want proof you have seen sick people up close.

The military route

The Canadian Armed Forces trained PAs (physician assistants) long before universities did. Serving medical technicians can be selected for the military PA program, get paid while they train, and work on bases and deployments. It is a real path if you are already in uniform, not a shortcut for civilians.

A typical shift

Emergency department, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. You pick up a chart: a sprained ankle. History, exam, order the X-ray, splint it, discharge with instructions, run the plan past your supervising doctor between patients. Next a child with a fever, then a laceration you stitch yourself, then a chest pain you work up and hand over. Fifteen to twenty patients in a shift. On a surgical service, the day starts with 6:30 a.m. rounds, then hours holding retractors and closing wounds.

The honest trade-offs

Work life

Typical hours

37.5 to 45 a week; shifts in hospitals, weekdays in clinics

Remote work

None

Physical demand

Moderate, on your feet all shift

Unionized

Sometimes, in hospitals

Similar paths

• Nurse PractitionerA nurse with a master's degree who can diagnose, order tests and prescribe. Two degrees, six figures, huge demand.
• Registered NurseCare for patients in hospitals, clinics and homes. In demand everywhere in Canada.
• ParamedicTwo years of college, then the front line of emergency medicine.

Born in the military

The Canadian Armed Forces have used physician assistants for decades, on ships, bases and deployments, long before the first civilian university programs opened. Many early civilian PAs (physician assistants) were retired military medics.

Alberta only started regulating PAs (physician assistants) in 2023

Alberta's job profile notes that physician assistants came under the province's Health Professions Act in 2023, making registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta mandatory. The rules for this job are being written right now.

Not a nurse practitioner

People confuse the two. A nurse practitioner is a nurse with a master's degree who can practise on their own. A PA (physician assistant) trains in the medical model and always works under a doctor. Similar tasks, different licence and different independence.

The exam comes around about once a year

The national certification exam, the PACE (the PA certification exam), is offered on a set date. CAPA (the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants) lists the next sitting in October 2026. Miss it or fail it and you wait for the next one.