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Fees and payment methods

View all types of work codes and fees by regions

Membership fees are payable annually. As a CMPA member, you will receive an invoice that indicates the fee that applies to you, based on your type of work and the geographical region in which you practise.

You can pay your fees using annual pre-authorized debit or monthly pre-authorized debit, or annual online fee payment. Find out more about these payment methods.

Reduction in 2022 membership fees

We recognize that the pandemic has placed financial strain on Canada’s healthcare system. We are committed to using our resources effectively and efficiently, and to containing growth in medical liability protection costs.

Membership fees in 2022 are once again reduced across all 4 fee regions. The total fees per fee region are reduced as follows*:

  • 16% reduction in British Columbia and Alberta
  • 20% reduction in Ontario
  • 45% reduction in Québec
  • 4% reduction in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Atlantic provinces, and the Territories

*the reduction in individual fees by Type of Work will vary

View fees by TOW and region

Select the TOW and region that most accurately reflects all your professional responsibilities. What's my TOW code?

Type of work (TOW) code descriptions

Work in private office, CLSC, hospital or ward work, walk-in/urgent care clinic, home care, nursing home, or chronic/long-term care facility. This includes assistance at surgery.

35: Family medicine or General practice—excluding anesthesia, obstetrics (labour and delivery), shifts in the emergency department, and surgery

Work in private office, CLSC, hospital or ward work, walk-in / urgent care clinic, home care, nursing home, or chronic / long-term care facility. This includes assistance at surgery.

  • If you work primarily in geriatric, palliative, or physical medicine and rehabilitation, choose code 27.
  • If your work is restricted to occupational medicine, choose code 51.
  • If your work is restricted to minor cosmetic procedures, choose code 37.

73: Primary professional work in family medicine or general practice – including shifts in the emergency department

If your work is primarily in the emergency department, choose code 82.

78: Family medicine or General practice—including obstetrics (labour and delivery), anesthesia, surgery, and shifts in the emergency department

79: Family medicine and General practice—including anesthesia, surgery, and shifts in the emergency department

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12: Residents and fellows without moonlighting—includes electives anywhere in Canada

Residents and fellows registered in a postgraduate medical education program, international medical graduates registered in a program to obtain a licence for independent practice, and fellows and physicians pursuing a structured university affiliated program.

  • This code includes extra resident shifts, but will not include CMPA assistance with medico-legal difficulties arising from independent practice of medicine outside the program.

14: Residents fellows with moonlighting—includes electives anywhere in Canada

Extracurricular (outside of a postgraduate training program) practice of medicine by residents and fellows registered in a full-time postgraduate medical education program leading to certification with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or a provincial or territorial medical regulatory authority (College).

  • This code will generally include eligibility for CMPA assistance with medico-legal difficulties arising from independent practice of medicine outside of the program whether remunerated or not.
  • Residents and fellows who moonlight must hold licensure or registration acceptable to the regulatory authority (College) in the jurisdiction where the moonlighting takes place.
  • Residents and fellows who limit their clinical activities to moonlighting (e.g. locum) for more than 14 consecutive days must change to a practising physician code.

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8: Humanitarian work, teaching, or research abroad

This code excludes the U.S. and all other countries where the U.S. legal system is applied. There is a minimum period of 3 months and a maximum period of 12 months. Members must confirm eligibility for assistance with the CMPA prior to leaving Canada.

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20: Administrative medicine (Medical executive or advisor)—no prescriptions, clinical, or patient contact

This code will generally include eligibility for CMPA assistance where medical input is used but will generally not include eligibility for CMPA assistance in matters related to non-medical acts performed in administrative roles, such as human resource matters or contractual issues.

90: Anesthesiology

24: Biochemistry, medical

70: Cardiology

31: Clinical associates and hospitalists on a medical or surgical service

  • This includes assistance at surgery, pre/postoperative care.
  • This must not include CCU, ICU, NICU work, or emergency department shifts or consultation as part of specialist services. This must not include labour and delivery, independent surgical practice, or fracture care.

* This code is not appropriate for specialists or family physicians who also have a general practice. This is also not appropriate for physicians eligible for Resident and fellows code 12 or code 14.

42: Clinical immunology and allergy

53: Critical or intensive care medicine

44: Dermatology

45: Diagnostic radiology

82: Emergency medicine

46: Endocrinology and metabolism

47: Gastroenterology

48: Genetics, medical or genomics

27: Geriatric medicine, palliative medicine, and physical medicine and rehabilitation

39: Gynecology and obstetrics—without labour, delivery, or surgery, and restricted to office practice

This code includes infertility treatments.

50: Hematology

52: Infectious diseases

54: Internal medicine and its subspecialties—not elsewhere noted

25: Microbiology, medical

66: Neonatal—perinatal medicine

55: Nephrology

56: Neurology

58: Nuclear medicine

93: Obstetrics—with or without gynecology

51: Occupational medicine

59: Oncology, medical

65: Oncology, radiation

38: Pain medicine—without general or spinal anesthesia

21: Pathology, anatomical or general

23: Pathology, hematological

26: Pathology, neuropathology

61: Pediatrics

If you work primarily in emergency medicine, choose code 82. If you work primarily in developmental pediatrics, choose code 27.

36: Psychiatry and addiction medicine

This code may include shifts in the emergency department of a psychiatric hospital.

28: Public health and preventive medicine (community medicine)

62: Respirology

63: Rheumatology

64: Sport and exercise medicine

7: Teaching in Canada

This code is exclusive to members who maintain only a clinical teaching role within Canada. To qualify for this code, you must not be in practice, make clinical decisions, write prescriptions, or undertake medical administrative work. You may have contact with patients only for the purpose of clinical teaching, but without involvement in patient care.

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33: Assistance at surgery—no other professional work

This code includes postoperative orders as part of surgical assistance duties only. If you perform work on the ward, choose code 31.

91: Cardiac surgery

83: General surgery

84: Gynecologic surgery—without labour and delivrey

If your work is restricted to office gynecology or obstetrics, choose code 39.

92: Neurosurgery

60: Ophthalmology

94: Orthopedic surgery

77: Otolaryngology (head and neck surgery)

This code includes cosmetic procedures restricted to the head and neck.

85: Pediatric surgery

86: Plastic surgery

37: Surgical consultations and office surgical practice

This code is also appropriate for physicians whose practice is restricted to minor cosmetic procedures that are consistent with their specialty training and that they can perform in an office setting under local anesthetic. If your work is restricted to office gynecology or obstetrics, choose code 39.

87: Thoracic surgery

88: Urology

89: Vascular surgery

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FAQs

Your actual membership fee is based on the CMPA Fee Schedule, which is updated annually.

The fee schedule lists and describes each type of work (TOW) code and indicates the fee that applies in each of the four fee regions.

To see the fee that applies to you, select the TOW code that most accurately reflects all of your professional responsibilities. If you perform more than one type of work and/or work in more than one fee region, please contact the CMPA for assistance in selecting the correct category. See the instructions in Residents and Clinical Fellows if you are applying for membership in TOW code 12 or 14.

If you have questions about membership fees please email to [email protected] .

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Membership fees differ depending on the type of work you perform as well as the region in which you are working (or are registered in a training program or are moonlighting). Fees reflect the risks inherent in different types of practices, as well as regional variations in medical-legal costs.

Recognizing the different cost structures across Canada, the CMPA has established four fee regions:

  • British Columbia and Alberta
  • Ontario
  • Québec
  • Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Atlantic provinces, and the Territories

Membership fees are prorated based on a full month. If you are a first-time applicant, you must pay for a minimum of two months in your first calendar year. You may be entitled to our flexible date membership option ; to verify your eligibility please send an email to  [email protected].

The CMPA does not offer part-time membership or senior membership rates.

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Membership fees are paid entirely by members. In all jurisdictions, provincial/territorial governments and medical associations or federations have negotiated reimbursement agreements which are intended to offset some of the cost of liability protection. This long-standing arrangement reflects an agreement between physicians and governments to include, in lieu of other payments for clinical services, some of the cost of liability protection in the overall compensation of physicians.

Eligibility criteria for reimbursement are set by each province/territory. Please contact your provincial or territorial medical association for more information.

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While the CMPA does not issue income tax receipts, the CMPA Annual Receipt for Membership Fee can help you determine whether you are eligible for an income tax deduction. This receipt is made available to members online each year in late January/early February. Members will receive an email when receipts become available. Download your receipt at any time (your CMPA member number and account password are required). For details about tax laws governing your province/territory, please consult your tax advisor.

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CMPA’s Financial Model Explained

Learn more about the CMPA’s Financial Model.
This video explains:

  • The key components that drive the CMPA’s financial model
  • Why members pay different fees in different regions
  • The main objectives of the CMPA’s investment portfolio
  • Highlights of the 2020 Financial Report

Watch the video to learn more.