Immigration Medical Exam

When you're applying for permanent residence, an immigration medical exam is required. Your family members need one too, even those who are not moving with you.

If you plan to visit, study or work in Canada, check whether you need a medical exam, since most people don't. You do need one if any of the following describes you:

• In the year before you arrive, you spent six months or more, all in a row, in certain countries or territories.
• The job you will take in Canada is one where public health must be protected.
• You are seeking a super visa for a parent or grandparent.

If a visit, study, or work application requires an exam, the visa office will explain your next steps.

With Express Entry, the medical exam happens in a specific window: after your invitation to apply arrives, but before you submit your application. If you claim refugee status when entering at a border crossing, the officer there will direct you to get your exam done inside of 30 days.

Some people already in Canada don't have to repeat the exam. A temporary public policy, now extended to 5 October 2029, exempts certain foreign nationals in Canada who meet all of its conditions, one of which is having had an immigration medical exam within the past 5 years.

A panel physician is a doctor whom the Government of Canada has given the green light to perform immigration medical exams, and you must use one from the official list. Your family doctor only counts if their name is on it. When you book, ask what you need to bring so you can prepare for your appointment.

Immigration medical exams come in two types: standard and streamlined. You cannot request one or the other. The government decides which type fits your case, so follow the instructions you receive carefully.

With an upfront medical exam, you get the exam before you apply instead of waiting to be told. If you need a medical exam to visit, study or work in Canada, you should get it before you apply. An upfront exam is an option when you apply to:

• visit, which includes super visas for parents and grandparents
• work
• study

For your exam, the government provides a list of things to have with you, such as:

• an original birth certificate, for a child who is younger than 18
• the Medical Report form, which is IMM 1017E or IMM 1020E, unless you had an upfront exam
• four recent photographs, if your panel physician does not use eMedical

All fees are paid at your appointment, and this covers the panel physician or radiologist fee. Prices vary from doctor to doctor.

The exam doesn't cover every part of your body, and the government's guide to the medical exam lists which parts aren't required. In some cases, the doctor may need to check your breasts as part of the exam.

Once the exam is over, there's nothing for you to mail in to the government. Your results stay good for one year. If you haven't made Canada your permanent home by the time that year is up, a new exam may be required.

For students and workers, the letter of introduction lists the day your results run out. If more than 12 months pass before you arrive in the country as a visitor, student, or worker, you may need another exam.

If your exam finds inactive tuberculosis, you'll need medical follow-up after you arrive in Canada to make sure you receive proper treatment.