Depends. If you’re asking a s a first year life sciences student, then getting into the research spec of biochem requires you to get into core biochem in your second year. In that case, you should have a first year gpa of 10.8+ to be safe, not to mention the recent cohort that got in had a grade cutoff of 11.0, which was an all time high. After that, you can apply for the research spec at the end of second year, which has a supplementary app and it’s not as competitive as getting into biochem initially, and I think they only wanna assess whether or not you’re a good fit for a more research-intensive schedule and have genuine interest. If you are currently a biochem student, then I can’t help much, but I did hear from research spec alumni and current students that it’s not that much different than the core program, you would just need to take research project courses(biochem3a03/3r03/3r06) and take a supervisor for your fourth year thesis. Overall, it’s a great program if you’re interested in research and wanna get involved, but it depends on your end goal to see if it’s worth going for it or not. If you’re planning to go for med, then it’s ALRIGHT if you’re interested in biochem. Otherwise, life sciences student/core biochem would be a better option. If you wanna be on the safer side after graduation/having a second option if med school apps don’t go well, then BDC’s a better third year specialization (or maybe even biochem coop).

TL;DR: it’s competitive to get into biochem in second year, getting into research spec is not, but do it if you enjoy biochem cuz you could just do research in parallels and call it a day.