Tuition fees continue to rise

First-year students attending Canadian medical schools are paying an average tuition fee of $7541 during the 2001/02 academic year, data from the Association of Canadian Medical Colleges indicate. This represents a 9.6% increase from the previous year. The number does not include additional fees students must pay, which typically account for several hundred dollars annually.

Quebec residents received the biggest bargain, with average fees of $2885 at their 4 schools. (Out-of-province students pay considerably more.) At the other end of the scale is Ontario, with average first-year tuition fees of $12 840.

The University of Toronto continues to have the country's highest fees, $14 700, while the Université de Montréal has the lowest, $2452. Five years ago, the fee at the U of T was $4037.

The Canadian Federation of Medical Students warns that rising tuition fees are “robbing Canadians of a diverse physician workforce and slamming the door on a very talented group of people.” — Patrick Sullivan, CMAJ