The short answer: Yes!
Canadians who did their undergraduate degree in Canada can absolutely apply to and attend medical schools in the United States. Pre-requisite courses done at Canadian universities are also allowed. Once you’re accepted, American medical schools can easily issue an I-20 to give you F1 status, which doesn’t even require an visa interview – you just have to show up at the border with your I-20 and SEVIS receipt.
The long answer: Yes, but it depends on the school.
Just as many Canadian medical schools have a huge in-province bias, some American medical schools won’t even consider Canadian applicants.
The best way to check is to purchase a subscription to MSAR, a service offered by the AAMC that outlines important admissions information for medical schools in the United States (and Canada!) including whether or not the school accepts Canadian applicants.
If you’re considering a school, another good way to check is to simply search on forums for “Does X School of Medicine accept Canadian applicants.” This usually yields school-specific information which can be incredibly useful – for instance, some schools may ‘technically’ accept Canadian applicants on MSAR, but only do so on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, some schools charge higher tuition or not offer any financial aid to Canadians.
An example of why you can’t always trust MSAR is Baylor College of Medicine. While Baylor claims to accept Canadian applicants, zero current students in any year are Canadian, making it unlikely to be worth the cost and effort of an application.
Someone made an excellent post on a premed forum outlining more details for each Canadian-friendly school, which I’d encourage applicants to check out before crafting their school list. We’re also working on a ranking system for MD schools as it pertains to being Canadian-friendly with even more details – check back soon for that.
In Summary
It’s entirely possible to attend an American medical school as a Canadian citizen! I’m a current MD student at a US medical school, and I even completed my undergraduate degree in Canada. It just takes a little effort to find schools that give the best opportunity to Canadian applicants.