We will serve physician licensure decisions through excellence in programs of assessment
The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) has supported physician licensure in Canada for more than 100 years by offering medical graduates and other candidates objective assessments that reflect the changing competencies required to practise medicine in this country.
As part of our commitment to safe, accessible health care for all patients in Canada, the MCC remains focused on producing robust assessments grounded in real-world medical practice that support licensing bodies while improving the assessment experience for candidates.
Action plans
- Enhance the effectiveness of examination processes by streamlining their design, development, delivery, and scoring, while reducing the turnaround time for candidate results. These improvements will significantly enhance overall efficiency while maintaining the validity and relevance of our assessments.
- Design a robust assessment program tailored for clinical practice environments, ensuring relevance and applicability.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
- The number of memorandums of understanding (MOUs)/service agreements with medical regulatory authorities for MCC workplace-based assessment (WBA) products and services. These agreements demonstrate participation and affirm the value of MCC’s WBA program and alignment with national standards.
- Delivery time for exam results: the number of days from the exam date to the delivery of results to candidates. This serves as a key indicator of the operational effectiveness of our exam processes, reflecting the efficiency of our streamlined exam delivery and scoring procedures.
Progress towards this objective
To deliver on this objective, we are actively developing and revising our program of assessment in collaboration with our partners in regulation and licensure. We are committed to operational excellence, continuous quality improvement, and adding value for end users. This collaborative effort ensures that our assessments meet the highest standards and are aligned with the needs of the regulatory community. Recent progress includes:
Exam improvements
- In April 2025, we made changes to the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part I to improve both the delivery and the overall candidate experience. The exam was shortened, and the clinical decision-making component was removed. In April 2026, it was formally renamed as the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE). This change aligns with the ongoing evolution of the MCC assessment framework.
- In December 2024, we updated our MCCQE preparatory products to align with the revised assessment model. In July 2026, we launched a new Preparatory Examination (PE), with a unique set of 230 multiple choice questions, for one dollar, complementing a set of 55 free MCCQE practice questions launched earlier in the year.
Delivery time for exam results
- The delivery time for exam results remains stable. Beginning in August 2025, results have been available to candidates within four weeks from the last day of the exam session.
Streamlining access to the LMCC
- In January 2026, we streamlined the pathway for earning the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC), eliminating the required 12 months of postgraduate training to qualify and making it possible for candidates to obtain the qualification earlier in their medical careers. The LMCC will now be issued digitally, shortening timelines and lowering fees.
TDM Examination modernization
- In January 2026, we made improvements to the Therapeutics Decision-Making (TDM) Examination, increasing the efficiency of the exam process with a new format featuring multiple choice questions and short-menu questions divided into two sections. This transformation is expected to result in the examination being administered more frequently, eliminating barriers to its use in PRA programs.
- As part of our commitment to maintaining examination integrity, we also ceased offering remote proctoring for both the TDM Examination and the MCCQE, effective June 2026.
Workplace-based assessment expansion and integration
- Under the leadership of our director of Competency-Based Assessment, we have expanded our workplace-based assessor training program, developing both online learning modules and instructor-led training sessions designed to provide assessors with the skills they need to conduct defensible assessments of physicians within the workplace. We continue to deliver this training across the country.
- The MCC’s workplace-based assessment (WBA) approach is now being utilized by Practice-Ready Assessment (PRA) programs in New Brunswick, and Manitoba, with pilot initiatives underway in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The MCC also provided the training for the team of assessors working out of the innovative Physician Assessment Centre of Excellence (PACE) in Halifax, Nova Scotia—the first clinic of its kind in Canada. These programs are designed to provide more pathways to practise for international medical graduates (IMGs) and internationally trained physicians (ITPs). As of August 2026, more than 171 assessors have been trained, with 96 per cent reporting that their assessment skills had “significantly improved.” More than 11,000 observations have also been conducted to date, using the MCC’s WBA model.
What’s next?
Expansion of NAC PRA
Continued thought leadership in assessment
Results
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