Medical Inadmissibility

Foreign national wishing to come to Canada may have to undergo a medical examination by an approved Panel Physician.

Permanent resident Applicants

If you apply for permanent residence, you must have an immigration medical exam. Your family members must also have a medical exam, even if they’re not coming with you.

Visitors, Students, and Workers

If you plan to stay for less than 6 months

• You generally don’t need a medical exam
• You need a medical exam if you’ll come to Canada to work in certain jobs

If you plan to stay for more than 6 months

You need a medical exam if you meet any of these criteria:

• You lived in one or more of certain countries or territories for at least 6 months in a row within the last year
• You’ll come to Canada to work in a job in which public health must be protected
• You apply for a parent and grandparent super visa

Reasons for Medical Inadmissibiliy

You may be found to be medically inadmissible to Canada when you apply for Permanent Residence or in some cases for Super Visa, Work Permit, Study Permit, or Visitor Visa.
There are 3 possible reasons for medical inadmissibility:

• Danger to public health
• Danger to public safety
• Excessive demand on health or social services. Medical inadmissibility for excessive demand reasons doesn’t apply to:
  • Spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners, and dependent children being sponsored
  • Refugees and their dependants
  • Protected persons

Danger to public health

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may refuse your application if they believe your health condition will endanger Canada’s public health.
IRCC will consider:

• your immigration medical exam results
• whether you may have certain infectious diseases, such as active tuberculosis or active syphilis, or whether you’ve been in close contact with others with an infectious disease
• how your disease could affect other people living in Canada

Danger to public safety

IRCC may refuse your application if they believe that your health condition will endanger public safety. This decision is based on the results of your immigration medical exam.
IRCC will consider your risk of:

• sudden incapacity (loss of physical and mental abilities)
• unpredictable or violent behaviour

Excessive demand on health or social services

IRCC may refuse your application if they believe that your health condition might cause an excessive demand on health or social services. This decision is based on the results of your immigration medical exam.
Your condition is considered to cause an excessive demand if:

• the health or social services needed to treat your health condition would negatively affect wait times for services in Canada, or
• the services needed to treat and manage your health condition would likely cost more than the excessive demand cost threshold

Overcoming Medical Inadmissibility

If IRCC believes that you may be medically inadmissible, they will send you a letter which explains the reason why. This letter is called a procedural fairness letter. You’ll receive this letter before a final decision is made on your application. You’ll have the opportunity to submit information to respond.
Many individuals respond to the procedural fairness letter and submit additional documents on their own. Often, this is not sufficient and the application is refused. It is strongly recommended to retain professional help to draft an appropriate response.
Many medical and psychological conditions, including developmental delays, can lead to refusal of an immigration visa or application for permanent residence. It is critical to respond to an officer’s concerns with a medical and legal immigration plan that is well researched, supported and presented in a convincing and substantive manner.
Medical and legal immigration plans can successfully be presented for various medical conditions including, but not limited to:

• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Cardiac Disease
• Diabetes
• Cancers
• Autoimmune Disease, i.e.: HIV, Lupus
• Learning Disabilities to Pervasive Development Disorder requiring special education
• Autism
• Cerebral Palsy
• Down Syndrome
• Psychiatric Disorders
• Hepatitis B and C and Liver Disease
• Blood Disorders
• Tuberculosis
• Brain Disorders
• Rare Diseases and Conditions
• Total Knee Replacement

Preparing a plan, taking into account your individual circumstances, is time consuming. Be proactive and don’t delay contacting a professional.

NEED HELP?

Get in Touch for more information or for preparing a response to your procedural fairness letter and preventing medical inadmissibility