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Physician assistant: what the job actually is

A health professional with a university degree who delivers care alongside physicians, taking on part of the load a doctor would otherwise carry.

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Physician assistant: quick facts

Physician assistant salary in Ontario: Job Bank reports one figure for the whole group of physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals, not for physician assistant alone. For that group the median pay is $43.93 an hour (reference period 2024). The group's three-year outlook in Ontario is good. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$43.93 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$24.47 to $56.37 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Good
People working in it in Ontario
2,600
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 31303. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Job Bank says physician assistants provide a range of health services, delivering preventive and continuing care in conjunction with physicians and in collaboration with other health professionals.
  • You are not a doctor and not a nurse practitioner. The route is a university degree in a physician assistant programme rather than medical school or nursing, so it is shorter than medicine.
  • Job Bank puts physician assistants in the same group as midwives, orthoptists and genetic counsellors, and reports one pay figure and one outlook for the whole group, not for physician assistants alone. Check pay with that in mind.
  • Ontario has three physician assistant education programmes, according to the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants: McMaster University, a consortium of the University of Toronto, NOSM University and the Michener Institute, and Western University.
  • We have not verified how physician assistants are regulated in Ontario or exactly how their work is supervised. Ask the programmes and a working physician assistant before you rely on any detail of 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. 7:30 — Read the list of patients for the day with the physician you work alongside.
  2. 8:00 — See the first patients and take their histories. You examine them, then discuss the plan with the physician.
  3. 9:30 — Order tests, write prescriptions or referrals as your workplace allows, and explain the plan to the patient.
  4. 11:00 — A patient with a complex problem. You spend more time with them than the physician has.
  5. 12:30 — Lunch at the desk, while charting.
  6. 13:30 — Help in a procedure or a minor treatment, depending on your setting.
  7. 15:00 — Phone calls with patients and other services about results.
  8. 16:00 — A short teaching session for a new student on the team.
  9. 17:00 — Finish charts and handover to the next team.
  10. 17:30 — Home. How much you do and decide depends entirely on where you work.

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 like medicine and want to be in the middle of patient care without the length of medical school.
  • You like working as part of a team and are comfortable that a physician has the final say.
  • You enjoy variety and learning a lot about many conditions.
  • You can explain a diagnosis clearly to a worried person.
  • You do not mind explaining, again and again, what a physician assistant is.
You may hate this if
  • You want your own practice and the title Doctor. This is a team role, and it is not a physician's job.
  • You get tired of explaining your role. Many patients and some colleagues do not know what a physician assistant is.
  • You want certainty about the rules. Job Bank says registration for physician assistants is required in Manitoba and New Brunswick only, and we did not verify how Ontario handles it, so the details may change.
  • You dislike paperwork. Charting and orders fill much of the day.
  • You want a wide choice of workplaces. Only some Ontario employers hire physician assistants, and there are three programmes, so places are limited.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Check each programme's entry requirements

    The Canadian Association of Physician Assistants lists three Ontario programmes and says each sets its own admission requirements, and that it does not state them. Read the websites of McMaster University, the University of Toronto, NOSM University and Michener consortium, and Western University before choosing courses.

  2. Complete a physician assistant programme

    The three credentials the association lists are a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Physician Assistant) at McMaster, a Bachelor of Sciences Physician Assistant degree through the consortium, and a Master of Physician Assistant Studies at Western. Job Bank says completion of a university degree in a physician assistant programme is required. We did not read programme lengths.

  3. Sit the certification examination

    The Physician Assistant Certification Council of Canada runs the entry-to-practice certification examination, according to the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants. Check its pages for eligibility, dates and fees.

  4. Find a workplace and learn your scope there

    Job Bank says physician assistants work in conjunction with physicians. We did not verify Ontario's regulatory rules for the role, so ask your programme and any employer what you may do and who signs off.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals, requirements in Ontario · Canadian Association of Physician Assistants — PA education programs · Job Bank — Physician assistants and midwives, summary in Ontario

The money

Physician assistant 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.

$24.47
Low (hourly)
$43.93
Median (hourly)
$56.37
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 31303. Reference period 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.

Source: Job Bank — Physician assistant 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 several new positions.
  • Not many 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

Who hires for it

  • The majority are employed in hospitals
  • Nursing and residential care facilities
2,600
people work in this job in Ontario
78%
are women (48% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals job prospects in Ontario (NOC 31303). 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 English, and keep your marks up. Look at the admission pages of the three programmes to see what they ask for.
  • Volunteer in a hospital or care setting if your age allows, so you see a care team at work.
  • Do a first-aid and CPR course.
  • Email a programme and ask what an applicant should have done before applying. Keep it short and specific.

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.

Compare three routes into patient care on paper

About 60 minutes
  1. Open the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants programmes page and write down the three Ontario credentials and where each is taught.
  2. Open our nurse practitioner page and write the route in order. Put the two routes side by side and mark where each begins and what comes first.
  3. Open the Job Bank requirements page for this group and note the one line about physician assistants and the one line about midwives, so you see how different the jobs in the group are.
  4. Write which route you would choose, and one thing you would still need to find out.

What it tells you. If the physician assistant route looked like the right balance of length and hands-on care, and the open questions felt like things to ask rather than reasons to stop, contact a programme. If you wanted the independence of a physician or the nursing background first, the other pages on this site are where to go next.

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. “What can you do in your workplace that others cannot?”
  2. “Who reviews your work, and how?”
  3. “How do patients and colleagues react when you tell them your role?”
  4. “What was the hardest part of the programme?”
  5. “How easy was it to find a job after graduating?”
  6. “What would you tell a student choosing between this and nursing or medicine?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Not as an independent practice. Job Bank describes physician assistants as working in conjunction with physicians, so you work with a physician or in a team, not on your own. Where the group's self-employment figure is missing, we do not guess.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a physician assistant make in Ontario?

Job Bank reports one figure for the whole group of physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals, not for a physician assistant alone. For that group the median pay is $43.93 an hour (reference period 2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $24.47 to $56.37 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a physician assistant 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 several new positions. Not many 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 physician assistant in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Check each programme's entry requirements; Complete a physician assistant programme; Sit the certification examination.

Where does a physician assistant work in Ontario?

The majority are employed in hospitals. Nursing and residential care facilities. (Job Bank.)

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

Job Bank counts about 2,600 people working in this job in Ontario. 78% 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?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

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Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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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.