Radiation Oncologist

The cancer doctor who treats tumours with radiation beams. Five years of residency after medical school, a salaried job at a cancer centre, and physics every day.

Typical pay: $311,000a year
Time to qualify: 11 to 13 yearsafter high school
Demand: Good
Licence needed: Yesregulated job

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Where to study to become a radiation oncologist in Canada

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Quick answers

How much does a radiation 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 a radiation oncologist in Canada?

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

What does it cost to become a radiation oncologist?

$73,000 to $165,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as a radiation 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 a radiation oncologist in Canada?

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

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Radiation Oncologist salary in Canada

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What radiation oncologists make

Median

$311,000

Lower end

$126,000

Upper end

$607,000

Job Bank does not give radiation oncologists a figure of their own. Its page for radiation 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. Most radiation oncologists in Canada are paid a salary or a fixed annual amount by a cancer centre, so there is little practice cost. It varies by province.

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 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.

Where pay is highest

About $344,000

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

Quebec is almost level at about $343,000, and Nova Scotia is lowest at about $207,000. These figures pool all specialists. Most radiation oncologists are paid a fixed annual amount by a cancer centre, with no office to run.

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
MCCQE (the national medical exam) plus the Royal College radiation oncology exam: $1,500 for the MCCQE, plus several thousand for the Royal College exam

Roughly, all in

$73,000 to $165,000

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

The low end is a three year undergraduate degree near $7,000 a year, a three year medical school program at roughly $15,000 a year, and the exam and application fees including the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). The high end is a four year undergraduate degree, four years of medical school approaching $28,000 a year, about $1,500 for the MCCQE (Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination) and several thousand more for the Royal College radiation oncology exam. Typical debt at the end of medical school is $80,000 to $150,000, usually carried on a line of credit whose interest is not included here. The five year residency is paid but rarely enough to clear the balance before you finish.

Typical debt at the end of medical school is $80,000 to $150,000. Residency pay slows the bleeding but rarely pays it off.

What comes with the job

Pension in some provinces
Hospital-employed doctors may join a public pension plan. Fee-for-service doctors save on their own.
Malpractice coverage
Through the CMPA (Canadian Medical Protective Association), partly reimbursed by the province.
Protected research and teaching time
Most cancer centres are attached to a university.
Union contract during residency
Provincial residents' associations negotiate pay, call limits and leave.

How to become a radiation oncologist in Canada

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a radiation oncologist, step by step

Every doctor's road, then a direct-entry 5-year residency.

1
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Top marks in biology, chemistry, physics, 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
Very competitive: most applicants are turned down. Classes, then clinical rotations. Do an oncology elective and find a research project.
4
Radiation oncology residency
5 years
Matched straight from medical school through CaRMS (the residency matching service). Cancer clinics, treatment planning, formal courses in radiation physics and radiobiology, and rotations in medical oncology, surgery and palliative care.
5
Certification and licence
End of residency
Pass the Royal College exam to become FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada), then register with your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons. Many add a 1-year fellowship.

High school courses that help you become a radiation oncologist

Physics
Radiation is physics. You will study it formally in residency and use it every day.
Biology and chemistry
Required for nearly every pre-med path.
Calculus and functions
Dose calculations and statistics for trials.
English
You will explain radiation to frightened people for a living.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 11 to 13
Getting into medical school: Very competitive, most applicants are turned down
Residency spots: Small. A limited number across Canada each year.
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 radiation oncology to work as one. Cancer centres will not hire without it. Radiation itself is also regulated: the machines and the doses fall under federal nuclear safety rules, and every plan is checked by a medical physicist. The credential is national, so moving provinces is paperwork.

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
Radiation oncology residency
5 years
Matched through CaRMS (the residency matching service) when you finish medical school. 5 years at Montréal and Laval, which train in French. McGill trains in English, mainly at the Cedars Cancer Centre and the Jewish General.
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.

Radiation oncology residency in Quebec

Montréal's program starts with a year of foundations in medicine and oncology, then builds up planning, radiation physics and radiobiology. It trains at the CHUM (the Université de Montréal hospital centre) and Maisonneuve-Rosemont, with children at Sainte-Justine, and says good spoken and written French is essential. Laval trains at Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus in Quebec City. McGill adds the Montreal General, the Royal Victoria and a rotation in Gatineau.

What helps you get ahead as a radiation oncologist

Things you don't need, but that help.

Ways to shape the job

Brachytherapy
Radiation delivered from inside the body, for prostate, cervix and some breast cancers. Hands-on and procedure-like.
Stereotactic radiosurgery
Very precise, very high doses in a few sessions, for brain and lung tumours. No scalpel involved.
Pediatric radiation oncology
Children's cancers. A tiny field at a few centres.
Clinical trials
Testing shorter courses and new combinations. Academic radiation oncologists lead them.

Nice-to-haves

Comfort with physics and math
Residents who hated physics struggle with the exam.
Research in med school
Oncology programs weigh publications.
Ease with 3D software
Treatment planning happens on a computer, outlining tumours on scans slice by slice.
French
Opens Quebec, Ottawa and New Brunswick programs and jobs.

What being a radiation oncologist is really like

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

What a radiation oncologist does day to day

Morning clinic: new patients referred with breast, prostate, lung or head and neck cancer. You explain what radiation can and cannot do, the side effects, then decide the dose and number of treatments. Afternoon at the planning computer: outlining the tumour and the organs to protect on CT (computed tomography) images, then working with a medical physicist and dosimetrist on the beam plan. A weekly tumour board with surgeons and medical oncologists. Patients on treatment see you once a week for a check. Almost no calls at night.

The honest pros and cons of being a radiation oncologist

The good

Regular hours and very few emergencies
Salaried, stable, no office to run
You cure many cancers and ease pain in others
Science-heavy work inside a real team

The hard parts

About 12 years of training and six figures of debt
Jobs exist only where there is a cancer centre, mostly cities
Every day includes hard conversations
Waitlists and machine funding are out of your hands

Work life

Typical hours: 45 to 55 a week, weekdays
Remote work: Some virtual follow-ups
Physical demand: Low
Unionized: Residents yes; staff doctors only if hospital employees

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being a radiation oncologist

Things people don't tell you.

Lung cancer is the deadliest

The Canadian Cancer Society expects about 32,900 new lung cancer cases and 19,300 deaths in Canada in 2026, the most cancer deaths of any type. Radiation is a core treatment for it, sometimes as a cure, often for comfort.

Radiation works by breaking DNA

The Canadian Cancer Society explains it simply: radiation damages a cancer cell's DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic code) so it stops dividing. Normal cells nearby get hit too, but they are better at repairing themselves, which is why treatment is split into many small daily doses.

It takes a team of five

A radiation oncologist decides the treatment, a medical physicist checks the machine and the plan, a dosimetrist calculates the dose, a radiation therapist runs the machine, and a nurse looks after the patient. The doctor is only one piece.

Not a radiologist

People mix them up constantly. Radiologists read X-rays and scans to diagnose. Radiation oncologists use radiation to treat cancer. Different residencies, different jobs.

How a radiation 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 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.