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Podiatrist and Chiropodist

Foot doctors. In Ontario most are chiropodists trained at one Toronto school; in the West and Quebec, podiatrists train for as long as physicians.

Typical pay
$57,000a year
Time to qualify
7 to 11 yearsafter high school
Demand
Moderate
Licence needed
Yesregulated job

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  1. 1.MoneyWhat you earn and what it costs to get there.5 screens
  2. 2.EducationThe exact path from high school to qualified.4 screens
  3. 3.OptionalThings you don't need, but that help.3 screens
  4. 4.ExtrasDay to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.4 screens
  5. 5.FactoidsThings people don't tell you.4 screens

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Money

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What podiatrists and chiropodists make

Job Bank median

$57,000

New chiropodist, building a caseload

$50,000

Established clinic owner

$123,000

Job Bank reports annual figures here because most people in this job are self-employed: a median of $56,800 and a high of $123,000. Job Bank's low is the census floor of $32,867, which mostly reflects part-timers, so we show a realistic $50,000 start instead. Salaried chiropodists in Ontario community health centres earn roughly $70,000 to $90,000, and busy private clinic owners can clear well over $123,000 before overhead.

Starting out

$50,000 to $70,000

First years as an associate or a new clinic owner

Private practice income depends on how fast you fill a schedule. Community health centre and hospital jobs start higher but are rare.

Established practice

$100,000 to $200,000 or more

Owners of busy clinics, especially with surgery and custom orthotics

Podiatrists with a US doctorate and surgical training charge the most. This is a business income: rent, staff and equipment come off the top.

What it costs to get there

Bachelor's degree (required before either route)
$7,000 to $10,000 a year
Chiropody advanced diploma at Michener in Toronto (3 years)
About $34,000 total in tuition and fees
Doctor of podiatric medicine at a US school (4 years)
Roughly $40,000 to $60,000 US a year, plus living costs
Registration exam and licence
A few thousand dollars, then annual fees
Roughly, all in
$65,000 to $375,000

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

The low end is a bachelor's degree at a cheaper university followed by the three year chiropody advanced diploma in Toronto at about 34,000 dollars in tuition and fees, plus the registration exam and first licence. The high end is the doctor of podiatric medicine at a US school, where four years of tuition alone comes to roughly 240,000 US dollars; the figure shown converts that to Canadian dollars at recent exchange rates and adds the degree before it. Chiropodists and podiatrists do much the same work in Ontario for similar pay, so the expensive route does not buy a matching income. Living costs while studying abroad sit on top of everything here.

The chiropody route is the affordable one. The US doctorate can leave you with well over $200,000 in debt.

How foot specialists get paid

  • Private fees

    Most of the income. Provincial health plans cover little or none of chiropody, so patients pay directly or through work insurance.

  • Custom orthotics

    Insurance-covered orthotics are a big revenue line for many clinics.

  • Salary

    Community health centres, some hospitals and long-term care homes employ chiropodists for diabetic foot care.

  • Surgery

    Podiatrists with surgical training bill for procedures such as bunion and nail surgery.

Education

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path

Two very different routes, depending on where you want to practise.

  1. 1

    High school

    Grades 11 and 12

    Biology, chemistry and math. You need marks good enough for a science degree.

  2. 2

    Bachelor's degree

    4 years

    Michener wants a science degree with anatomy and physiology, or a kinesiology degree, and at least a 2.70 CGPA (cumulative grade point average). US podiatry schools also want the MCAT (medical school admission test).

  3. 3

    Route A: chiropody in Ontario

    3 years

    The 3-year advanced diploma at the Michener Institute in Toronto, the only chiropody program in Canada. Hybrid classes, an on-site clinic from first year, and external placements in year three. Admission uses the Casper situational test as half the decision.

  4. 4

    Route B: doctor of podiatric medicine

    6 to 7 years

    A 4-year doctorate at a US podiatric medical school, or the French-language program at UQTR (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières), followed by a hospital residency of at least 2 years, usually 3.

  5. 5

    Register

    After training

    Ontario: pass the College of Chiropodists of Ontario exam. Alberta: register with the College of Podiatric Physicians of Alberta after the US board exams. BC: the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. Quebec: the Ordre des podiatres du Québec.

High school courses that help

  • Biology

    Anatomy, infection, wound healing.

  • Chemistry

    Required for the science degree and for the US doctorate.

  • Math and physics

    Biomechanics: how the foot carries the body.

  • English

    Patient notes, and the Casper test rewards clear reasoning.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school
7 for chiropody; 10 to 11 for a podiatric doctorate with residency
Admission
Michener: a degree, 2.70 CGPA (cumulative grade point average) and the Casper test; US schools: a degree and the MCAT (medical school admission test)
Total tuition
About $65,000 for the chiropody route; $250,000 or more for the US doctorate
Paid while training?
Only during a podiatric residency

Regulated everywhere, differently everywhere

Every province licenses foot specialists, but the titles and rules differ. Ontario has two classes under the College of Chiropodists of Ontario: chiropodists, trained at Michener, and podiatrists, who hold a US doctorate. For decades Ontario limited new podiatrist registrations, so nearly all Ontario foot specialists are chiropodists; the College is now moving to a full-scope podiatry model that removes that cap. Alberta, BC and Quebec register only doctorate-trained podiatrists.

Optional

Things you don't need, but that help.

Ways to earn more

  • Surgical training

    A US doctorate and residency lets you do bone surgery. Chiropodists are limited to soft tissue and nail procedures.

  • Diabetic foot and wound care

    Hospitals and health centres hire for this specifically as diabetes rates climb.

  • Sports and biomechanics

    Runners and athletes pay privately for gait analysis and custom orthotics.

  • Clinic ownership

    The main way to move past a salaried income.

Nice-to-haves

  • Shadowing a chiropodist or podiatrist

    Programs want proof you know what the job is, including the unglamorous parts.

  • Comfort with older patients and wounds

    A large share of the work is diabetic and elderly foot care.

  • Business sense

    Most graduates end up running a clinic.

  • French

    Opens the Quebec route and its French-language doctorate.

Side path: the Quebec doctorate

Quebec is the only province with a Canadian podiatric medicine doctorate, taught in French at UQTR (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières). Graduates register with the Ordre des podiatres du Québec. If you are bilingual and want the full doctor-level scope without US tuition, it is the one domestic option.

Extras

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

A typical day

Fifteen to twenty-five patients: ingrown toenails, corns and calluses, plantar fasciitis, diabetic foot checks and wound dressings, fungal nails, custom orthotic casting and fitting. Small procedures under local anaesthetic. Lots of older patients who cannot reach their own feet. In a surgical podiatry practice, mornings may be bunion or hammertoe surgery. Clinic owners spend evenings on billing and insurance forms.

The honest trade-offs

The good

  • Own your clinic and set your hours
  • Aging and diabetic populations guarantee demand
  • Hands-on procedures with fast relief for patients
  • Chiropody route is far cheaper than medical school

The hard parts

  • One Canadian chiropody school; otherwise US tuition
  • Little public health coverage, so income depends on patients paying
  • Scope is limited outside Quebec, Alberta and BC
  • Feet: wounds, fungus and smells are the daily work

Work life

Typical hours
35 to 45 a week, mostly weekdays
Remote work
None
Physical demand
Moderate; bent over feet all day
Unionized
No, except a few hospital and health centre jobs

Factoids

Things people don't tell you.

One school for all of Canada's chiropodists

The Michener Institute in Toronto runs the only chiropody program in the country: a 3-year advanced diploma you can only enter with a degree. Students treat real patients in the school's own foot clinic from first year.

Ontario froze podiatrists for decades

Ontario stopped registering new doctorate-trained podiatrists in the 1990s and built the profession around chiropodists instead. The College of Chiropodists of Ontario is now moving to a full-scope podiatry model that lifts the cap.

The Alberta bar is a US degree

To practise as a podiatrist in Alberta you need a doctor of podiatric medicine degree from a school approved by the US Council on Podiatric Medical Education, a residency of at least 2 years, and all three parts of the American podiatric licensing exam.

Diabetes drives the work

Diabetes damages nerves and blood flow in the feet, so small wounds can turn into amputations. Regular foot care by a chiropodist or podiatrist is one of the cheapest ways to prevent that, which is why hospitals and health centres hire them.

Where these numbers come from

Last checked September 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.