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Cardiologist: what the job actually is

A physician who looks after the heart and blood vessels, from long-term conditions to the emergency that arrives at night.

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Cardiologist: quick facts

Cardiologist salary in Ontario: Job Bank reports one figure for the whole group of specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine, not for cardiologist alone. For that group the median pay is $295,785 a year (reference period 2023-2024). The group's three-year outlook in Ontario is good. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$295,785 a year
Pay range (low to high)
$110,998 to $599,836 a year
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Good
People working in it in Ontario
14,650
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 31100. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • A medical doctor who specialises in the heart and the blood vessels. You work out what is wrong, treat it with medication and advice, and decide when a patient needs a procedure or an operation.
  • A lot of cardiology is long-term. You follow patients with conditions that do not go away, and you adjust treatment over years as they get older and their results change.
  • A lot of the evidence is numbers and traces: blood pressure, blood tests, heart rhythms and images of the heart. Knowing which result matters, and which to ignore, is most of the skill.
  • Job Bank reports one pay figure and one outlook for all specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine, not for cardiology alone. The pay on this page is the figure for that whole group.
  • Some cardiologists work in hospitals with emergencies and procedures. Others work mainly in clinics. Job Bank says two more years of subspecialty training may also be required in this group, and which kind of work you do is shaped by that.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 7:00 — Round on your hospital patients. You read the overnight rhythm strips and decide who is better, who is the same and who is worse.
  2. 8:30 — Clinic. A patient has come back after three months. You check their numbers and ask what they are not telling you about their pills.
  3. 9:30 — A new referral with chest pain that turned out to have a harmless cause. Telling someone that is a good moment.
  4. 10:30 — Read a heart tracing for a colleague. You look at the pattern and tell them what it says and what it does not.
  5. 11:30 — A conversation with a patient whose heart is slowly getting weaker. You do not overpromise, and you do not take away hope.
  6. 12:30 — Lunch, maybe, with a page for something in the emergency department.
  7. 13:30 — Afternoon clinic: more follow-ups, more medication changes, more results to explain in plain words.
  8. 16:00 — Letters to family doctors and calls to other specialists about shared patients.
  9. 17:30 — Leave, or stay, because someone is unwell and the on-call phone is yours tonight.
  10. 2:00 — If it rings, you go in. The job is built to include that.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You are interested in how a system works under pressure, and you like physiology and numbers.
  • You want to follow patients for years, not just fix a single problem.
  • You can stay clear-headed when someone is unwell very fast.
  • You are comfortable explaining a lot of detail in plain words, and returning to the same message many times.
  • You like a specialty where some days are quiet and long-term and others are urgent.
You may hate this if
  • You want a short route. After a bachelor's degree and medical school, Job Bank says four to five years of specialty residency for this group, and two more years of subspecialty training may be needed.
  • You dislike on-call. Heart emergencies do not keep office hours, and nights and weekends can be taken from you.
  • You cannot bear patients who do not get better. Many heart conditions are managed, not cured, and some patients get worse despite good care.
  • You dislike telling people to change their lives. A lot of the job is asking for changes that are hard to make and easy to put off.
  • You do not like waiting for results and living with uncertainty. A test can leave you with a probability, not an answer.
  • You dislike how heavy the responsibility is. When a heart problem is missed, the cost is high.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Do a degree and get into medical school

    Job Bank says a bachelor's degree is usually required before medical school, and that graduating from an approved medical school is required. Each school sets its own entry rules. Our family physician page lists the six Ontario medical schools.

  2. Match into a residency and then a cardiology programme

    Job Bank gives four to five years of specialty residency for this group and says two more years of subspecialty training may be required. We did not read cardiology's own residency page, how it is organised or how places are given out, so ask a medical school.

  3. Pass the Royal College examinations

    Job Bank says the certifying examinations of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada are required. The CPSO's independent practice certificate page also lists the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination, Parts 1 and 2.

  4. Get licensed by the CPSO

    Licensing by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is compulsory. The CPSO says a certificate holder may only practise in the areas where they are educated and experienced.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine, requirements in Ontario · CPSO — Independent practice certificate requirements

The money

Cardiologist salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$110,998
Low (a year)
$295,785
Median (a year)
$599,836
High (a year)

Ontario, NOC 31100. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth. Job Bank reports this one by the year rather than by the hour, because the income is commission and the hours behind it are nothing like fixed.

Source: Job Bank — Cardiologist wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Good4 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
  • A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Increased need for health-related services to support the growing and aging population in Ontario
  • Greater demand on the health care system because of the backlog of medical procedures and patient care needs
  • Major investments in health care facilities
  • Initiatives to improve home and community-based patient care services
  • Demand may be greater in rural and northern communities of Ontario

Who hires for it

  • Hospitals
  • Offices of physicians
  • Almost 60% of specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine are self-employed
14,650
people work in this job in Ontario
43%
are women (48% across all jobs)
59%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine job prospects in Ontario (NOC 31100). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take senior biology, chemistry and maths, and keep your marks strong. Every stage of this route asks for them.
  • Learn first aid and CPR properly, and practise it. Knowing what to do in the first minutes of a collapse is a real skill.
  • Learn how to read a simple graph of numbers over time, such as a line chart in a science class, and explain what it shows.
  • Read the admission requirements of one Ontario medical school so you know what your university years must include.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Log your own pulse and read it like a graph

About 30 minutes
  1. Find your pulse at your wrist and count the beats for a full minute while sitting still. Write the number down with the time. This is a measurement, not a medical test, and it is not for deciding anything about your health.
  2. Climb one flight of stairs at an easy pace, or walk briskly for two minutes, and count again straight away. Then count again after two minutes of rest. Stop if you feel unwell.
  3. Draw the three numbers as a small line graph. Write one sentence on what the graph shows and one on what you cannot tell from three points.
  4. Open the Job Bank requirements page for specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine and write the route in order.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed turning body numbers into a picture and wanted more points on the graph, cardiology suits your curiosity, and the long route is the thing to weigh next. If three numbers felt thin and you wanted to hear the person's story, a specialty built around conversation, such as family medicine, may suit you better.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “How much of your week is long-term follow-up and how much is urgent?”
  2. “How do you talk to someone who will not change a habit that is hurting them?”
  3. “What was the hardest part of your training?”
  4. “How do you handle being on call?”
  5. “What made you choose cardiology over another specialty?”
  6. “What would you tell a student about the cost and length of the route?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Sometimes. Job Bank says a large share of specialists in this group are self-employed, and some cardiologists run an office practice. Many work in hospitals, and heart procedures need hospital equipment. Ask a cardiologist how they arranged theirs.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a cardiologist make in Ontario?

Job Bank reports one figure for the whole group of specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine, not for a cardiologist alone. For that group the median pay is $295,785 a year (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $110,998 to $599,836 a year. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a cardiologist in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as good for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions. A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements. There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a cardiologist in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Do a degree and get into medical school; Match into a residency and then a cardiology programme; Pass the Royal College examinations.

Where does a cardiologist work in Ontario?

Hospitals. Offices of physicians. Almost 60% of specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine are self-employed. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a cardiologist in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 14,650 people working in this job in Ontario. 43% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Health careers in Ontario: outlook and pay What can you do with your degree?

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.