Immigration Medical Exam for Canada: What IRCC Requires

An immigration medical exam (IME) is a health exam that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires from every applicant for permanent residence and their family members, and from some visitors, students and workers. Your own doctor can’t do it. It must be done by a panel physician on IRCC’s list. Depending on the application, you either get the exam before you apply (an upfront exam) or wait for IRCC’s instructions. IRCC says results are valid for 12 months.

The exam itself is routine for most people. The parts that cause trouble are timing, the wrong doctor and missing paperwork, so those are the focus here.

Who needs an immigration medical exam

Permanent residence. IRCC is plain about this: if you apply for permanent residence, you must have an immigration medical exam. Your family members must also have one, even if they are not coming with you. That applies to spousal sponsorship and other family applications as much as to economic ones.

Visitors, students and workers. For a stay of 6 months or less, IRCC says you generally don’t need an exam unless you plan to work in certain jobs in which public health must be protected. For a stay of more than 6 months, you need an exam if at least one of these applies:

• You have lived in or travelled to one or more of the countries or territories on IRCC’s list for 6 months or more in a row in the year before you come to Canada.
• You will come to Canada to work in a job in which public health must be protected.
• You are applying for a parent and grandparent super visa.

IRCC’s examples of those jobs include workers in health care settings, clinical laboratory workers, patient attendants in long-term care homes, and workers in primary or secondary school or child-care settings. Check the country list on IRCC’s page against your own travel history.

Already living in Canada? Check the exemption first

IRCC has extended a temporary public policy that exempts certain foreign nationals in Canada from the IME requirement until October 5, 2029. IRCC lists four conditions, and all of them must apply to you: you applied or are applying for permanent or temporary residence, you already live in Canada, you completed your previous IME in the last 5 years, and that IME indicated a low risk or no risk to public health or public safety. If you are unsure whether your earlier exam counts, settle that before you book a new one.

Only a panel physician can do the exam

IRCC states that you must see a doctor on the list of panel physicians and that your own doctor can’t do the medical exam. To find one, use IRCC’s official Find a Panel Physician tool, which lets you search by country or territory and then by province or region.

The panel physician examines you and sends the results to IRCC, but does not decide anything. In IRCC’s words, the panel physician doesn’t make the final decision about your medical exam: IRCC does.

Upfront exam or instructed exam: which applies to you

If you received an instruction letter, the date that matters is the one in your letter or online account. IRCC says that if you don’t follow the instructions, it may refuse your application. For Express Entry, the timing sits alongside the rest of your post-invitation work; our Express Entry page covers that stage.

What to bring to the appointment

IRCC lists what you must bring:

1. Proper identification. IRCC strongly recommends your passport; it also lists other accepted documents, such as a national identity card.
2. Your eyeglasses or contact lenses, if you wear them.
3. Any medical reports or test results for previous or existing medical conditions.
4. A list of your current medications.
5. The Medical Report form (IMM 1017E or IMM 1020E) if you are not getting an upfront exam. IRCC sends you this form.
6. 4 recent photographs, if the panel physician doesn’t use eMedical. Ask the clinic before your appointment.

Fees are paid at the appointment. IRCC says this includes the panel physician or radiologist fee, any special tests, investigations or treatment, and any specialists you need to see. If IRCC refuses your application after the exam, those fees are not refunded. We do not quote a clinic price, because panel physicians set their own.

After the exam

The physician gives you a document confirming that you had a medical exam. Keep it. For an upfront exam, that document goes in with your application.

IRCC says your results are valid for 12 months, and that if you don’t come to Canada as a permanent resident within that time, you may need another exam. Plan your application around that window.

IRCC also notes that if your exam finds inactive tuberculosis, you will be required to undergo medical surveillance once you are in Canada. That is a follow-up step, not a refusal.

Medical inadmissibility, in IRCC’s own terms

IRCC lists 3 possible reasons for medical inadmissibility: danger to public health, danger to public safety, and excessive demand on health or social services. IRCC says the excessive demand rules don’t apply to refugees and their dependants, protected persons, and certain people sponsored by family, such as spouses, common-law partners and dependent children. If IRCC believes you may be medically inadmissible, it sends a letter explaining why and gives you an opportunity to respond. Our guide to responding to a procedural fairness letter explains that kind of letter. We do not predict medical outcomes; only IRCC decides.

Help in Edmonton and across Alberta

Imprint Immigration Services works from one office in Edmonton, at 300-9006 132 Avenue NW. Clients in Calgary and elsewhere in Alberta meet with us by video. We can look at which exam route your application uses, whether the in-Canada exemption may be worth checking, and how the 12-month validity fits your plans. We do not perform or interpret medical exams.

Book a consultation

A 30-minute consultation with Shirani Jenita Daniel, RCIC-IRB, licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), is $50 + GST, by video or in person. Book a consultation.

Frequently asked questions

Immigration advice provided by Shirani Jenita Daniel, RCIC-IRB, CICC Licence R705794. This article is general information about government processes, not advice on your situation.