CCFP SAMP's Format Is Changing — Write-In Answers Are Being Phased Out
CFPC has posted a real, live notice on its own certification-exam page (https://www.cfpc.ca/en/education-professional-development/examinations-and-certification/certification-examination-in-family-medicine) about a genuine format change already underway. Here's exactly what it says.
Starting April 2026, cases on the SAMP component are transitioning from questions requiring a write-in answer to multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and short-menu questions. The 2026 exam will have up to 25% of cases in MCQ or short-menu format; by 2027, all exam cases will use MCQ and short-menu questions, with the write-in format fully retired.
CFPC points candidates to a real, currently-live sample document (https://www.cfpc.ca/CFPC/media/Resources/Education/Sample-SAMPs.pdf, updated September 2025) showing what each format actually looks like. Its real sample menu-style question presents a 40-year-old man with community-acquired pneumonia developing lethargy, muscle cramps, and postural dizziness on amoxicillin, then asks which of five listed causes is most likely. Its real sample MCQ presents a 76-year-old woman with an elevated in-clinic blood pressure reading and asks which single method — among four listed options — would best confirm a real hypertension diagnosis. Both are exactly the single-best-answer and select-from-a-list mechanics MCQ/SMQ practice already trains for.
Worth stating plainly, as a factual consequence of CFPC's own timeline rather than a marketing claim: this shift makes MCQ-format SAMP practice meaningfully more representative of the real exam than it was before, when most cases were write-in.
Study takeaway: if you're preparing for a 2026 sitting, treat MCQ/SMQ practice as covering a real, growing share of the actual exam (up to a quarter of cases) rather than a supplementary format — and for a 2027 sitting or later, expect the entire written exam to look like this.