Physician Assistant

A medically trained professional who works under a doctor: takes histories, examines, orders tests, prescribes and assists in surgery. A 2-year program after university, and one of the newest regulated jobs in Canada.

Typical pay: $97,000a year
Time to qualify: 4 to 6 yearsafter high school
Demand: Moderate
Licence needed: Dependsneeded in 9 provinces

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Where to study to become a physician assistant in Canada

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Quick answers

How much does a physician assistant make in Canada?

The median pay is about $97,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $50,000 at the lower end to about $125,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become a physician assistant in Canada?

4 to 6 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become a physician assistant?

$36,000 to $93,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as a physician assistant in Canada?

It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.

What is the job outlook for a physician assistant in Canada?

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

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Physician Assistant salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What physician assistants make

Median

$97,000

Lower end

$50,000

Upper end

$125,000

Job Bank's national median is $46.81 an hour, about $97,000 a year at 40 hours a week, with a low of $24.09 (about $50,000) and a high of $60.26 (about $125,000). Alberta's alis (Alberta Learning Information Service) profile cites a 2024 average salary of $131,277 for physician assistants in Alberta, from CAPA (the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants). Pay is set by the employer, usually a hospital or clinic, and varies by province.

Where pay is highest

$49.43 an hour

The Job Bank median in Manitoba, the highest of any province

New Brunswick is close at $49.34 and Ontario is $43.93. Where PAs (physician assistants) are new and unregulated, jobs are fewer and pay is less predictable.

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.

How to become a physician assistant in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a physician assistant, step by step

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

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
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
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 consortium, Western, Manitoba (25 months), Saskatchewan, Calgary and Dalhousie, plus the Canadian Armed Forces for serving members.
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
Register where required
A few months
Every province but Quebec registers PAs through its College of Physicians and Surgeons. Then find a supervising physician and a job.

High school courses that help you become a physician assistant

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: $34,000 to $90,000
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. You must register with the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Quebec and the three territories have no PA licence yet. 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.
Western, Saskatchewan, Calgary and Dalhousie
Master of Physician Assistant Studies programs in London, Saskatoon, Calgary and Halifax.
Canadian Armed Forces
Trains its own PAs (physician assistants) from serving medical technicians.

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

The path in Quebec

Quebec does not yet recognize physician assistants as a profession, so the usual route means training in another province.

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. It leads into university science and health programs.
3
A bachelor's degree
Most PA (physician assistant) programs want a finished degree with anatomy and physiology, plus real health care experience.
4
PA (physician assistant) program outside Quebec
About 2 years
No Quebec school offers one yet. Programs run at McMaster, Toronto, Western, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Calgary and Dalhousie, plus the Canadian Armed Forces for serving members.
5
National exam
After graduating
Pass the PACE (the national PA certification exam), the same as everywhere else in Canada.
6
Working in Quebec
Pilot only
Civilian jobs are rare. The first PAs (physician assistants) started in 2024 in a pilot project with the Cree health board of James Bay, overseen by the health ministry and the Quebec college of physicians.

Where the role stands in Quebec

In October 2024, Université Laval's faculty of medicine said it was starting to build a master's program for physician assistants with the Canadian Armed Forces. It would be the first one taught in French in Canada. If the James Bay pilot works, the role could spread across the Quebec health system. Until then, plan on studying and working in another province, or in the Armed Forces.

What helps you get ahead as a physician assistant

Things you don't need, but that help.

Where PAs (physician assistants) work

Emergency department
Seeing less urgent 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.
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.

What being a physician assistant is really like

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

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 pros and cons of being a physician assistant

The good

Two years of training instead of ten to do real medicine
A median of about $97,000 a year
Variety: switch from emergency to surgery to family practice without retraining
Demand is growing as provinces look for ways to see more patients

The hard parts

Always supervised; you never practise on your own
Not every province regulates or funds the role yet
The job is new, so patients and even staff may not know what you are
Only a handful of programs, and they are competitive

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

Things nobody tells you about being a physician assistant

Things people don't tell you.

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.

How a physician assistant compares

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

Highest paying healthcare careers in Canada50 of 101

More health careers in Canada

Nursing and patient care first, then the rest of the field. See every career in health.

Where these numbers come from

Last checked October 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.