Upfront medical examination no longer required before submitting an Express Entry application

As of October 1st, you no longer need to get an upfront medical examination before you submit your application for permanent residence through Express Entry.

An immigrant medical exam (IME) from a panel physician is a requirement for permanent residence.

If you have never completed an IME, you may now upload a blank document in the upload field of the Express Entry profile Builder when submitting your application. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will then send you further instructions on when to get your medical exam.

If you have already completed an IME as part of a previous application, for example, to work or study, and are currently living in Canada, you do not need to complete another IME when you apply for permanent residence.

About the IME

If you apply for permanent residence, you must have an IME. Your family members must also have a medical exam, even if they are not accompanying you to Canada.

Your own doctor cannot do the medical exam. Instead, you must see a doctor on the list of panel physicians, which are physicians approved by IRCC.

The panel physician does not make the final decision about your medical exam, IRCC does. IRCC will not approve a permanent residence application if your health is a danger to Canada’s public health or safety or if it would cause too much demand on health or social services in Canada.

When you go to your appointment for the medical exam, you must bring:

• Proper identification
• Eyeglasses or contact lenses, if you wear them
• Any medical reports or test results that you have for any previous or existing medical conditions
• A list of your current medications
• The Medical Report form, if you do not get an upfront medical exam
• 4 recent photographs, if the panel physician does not use eMedical

The medical exam will likely consist of a medical history questionnaire, which will ask about any previous and existing medical conditions. You’ll also undergo a physical exam. Depending on your age, you may be asked to do chest x-rays and other laboratory tests.

You must pay for all the fees related to the medical exam when you are there. Once the results are received, the physical will send you them and provide you with a document confirming that you had a medical exam.

Your medical exam results are valid for 12 months only. If you don’t come to Canada as a permanent resident within that time, you may need to have another exam.