Free tool · immigration medical exam

Medical exam checker Whether your application needs an immigration medical exam, and when to book it

Permanent residence always needs one. For visitors, students and workers it depends on three things — how long you will stay, where you have been in the past year, and the job you will do. This checker applies IRCC's current table of 284 countries and territories and the list of public-health occupations, then tells you whether the in-Canada five-year exemption might apply.

128 designated countriesPR, super visa, temporaryIn-Canada exemption to Oct 2029Checked Sep 2026

IRCC table · revised Nov 3, 2025

Temporary residents need an exam when6 monthsor more in a designated country in the past year, for a stay over 6 months

PR applicantsAlways

Super visaAlways

Health & child care jobsAlways

Step by step

Do you need a medical exam?

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Immigration medical exam checkerFreeIRCC table of Nov 3, 2025284 countries

Sources: IRCC, Medical exams for temporary residents (2026-08-04), country table (revised Nov 3, 2025), Medical exams for permanent residents (2026-08-04). Checked September 7, 2026.

The rules

How IRCC decides.

Permanent residence is simple; temporary residence is a three-part test.

1Permanent residence

Every applicant and every family member, accompanying or not. Express Entry: upfront exam after the invitation. Everyone else: wait for instructions, then 30 days. Results last 12 months.

2Super visa

Parents and grandparents applying for a super visa always need an exam, whatever the country.

3Stay length

Temporary residents staying 6 months or less do not need an exam unless their job requires one.

4Designated countries

Staying more than 6 months and having lived in or visited a designated country for 6 months or more in a row in the past year means an exam. 128 of 284 countries and territories are designated.

5Public-health jobs

Health care, clinical labs, long-term care, schools and child care, domestic work and in-home caregiving always need an exam, whatever the stay or country.

6In-Canada exemption

Until October 5, 2029, applicants in Canada with a low- or no-risk exam in the last 5 years may not need a new one. IRCC decides; do not book until asked.

Questions

Medical exams, answered.

Who needs an immigration medical exam?

Everyone applying for permanent residence, including family members who are not coming to Canada; everyone applying for a parent and grandparent super visa; and temporary residents (visitors, students, workers) who either plan to stay more than 6 months after living in or visiting a designated country for 6 months or more in a row in the past year, or will work in a job where public health must be protected, whatever the stay length or country.

Which jobs always need a medical exam?

Jobs that bring you into close contact with people: workers in health care settings, clinical laboratory workers, patient attendants in nursing and geriatric homes, medical students and electives, physicians on short-term locums, workers in primary or secondary schools and child-care settings, domestic workers, and in-home caregivers to children, the elderly or people with disabilities. Agricultural workers need one if they lived in or visited a designated country for 6 months or more in the year before coming.

Which countries are designated?

IRCC keeps a table of 284 countries and territories; 128 of them currently require an exam for temporary residents. The table was revised on November 3, 2025 (Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela were added; Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Latvia, Lithuania and Taiwan were removed). Search the list in the checker above.

I am already in Canada and had a medical exam recently. Do I need another?

Possibly not. Under a temporary public policy, extended until October 5, 2029, applicants who are in Canada, are applying for permanent or temporary residence, had an immigration medical exam in the last 5 years and were found to pose no or low risk to public health or safety can be exempted from a new exam. IRCC confirms this when it processes the application; do not book an exam until asked.

When do I take the exam?

Express Entry candidates take an upfront exam after the invitation to apply and before submitting. All other permanent residence applicants, and temporary residents unless told otherwise, wait for IRCC's instructions and then have 30 days to complete the exam. Results are valid for 12 months.

Who can do the exam?

Only a panel physician approved by IRCC. Your family doctor cannot do it. The panel physician sends the results to IRCC directly; you receive a confirmation with the IME or UMI number to enter in your application.

IRCC — Medical exam requirements for temporary residents · updated 2026-08-04
IRCC — Find out if you need a medical exam (country table) · revised November 3, 2025
IRCC — Medical exam requirements for permanent residents · updated 2026-08-04

Keep going

Booked the wrong exam, or asked for one you did not expect?

A licensed RCIC can read the officer's request, confirm whether the five-year exemption applies to you, and respond within the deadline.

Book a consultation

eligibility review

Find out where you actually stand.

Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.

Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant — never a bot, never a salesperson
A written shortlist of the programs you realistically qualify for
Consultations are fee-based; you get the fee and available times by reply

CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.