In Canada, the qualification of physicians is the jurisdiction of the College of Family Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. The Colleges have promoted the training of "generalists" in family medicine and "sophisticated generalists" among the traditional specialties, and the development of subspecialties has not been encouraged. Nevertheless, due to the increasing number of family physicians and specialists practicing a range of new subspecialties, including addiction medicine, the College of Family Physicians has recognized special interest or focused practices, whereas the Royal College has recognized, in psychiatry, 3 subspecialties (child, geriatric, forensic) requiring an extra year of training and may offer others a diploma recognition. These new opportunities will shape the training requirements of addiction medicine leading to available certification through the International and American Medical Societies of Addiction Medicine. (Contains 3 tables.)