Although you can glean from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website who needs a medical exam, who can do your exam, when to get your exam, and what to bring with you to the exam, you won’t discover from the site what actually happens at an exam. Poking around on forums revealed a bit, but learning “a blood test” is part of the exam was nearly useless (of course there will be a blood draw—but what are they measuring?) Perhaps the IRCC intentionally keeps the med exam opaque beforehand, and maybe they don’t offer details because variation among the circumstances of applicants changes demands; regardless, I’m here to share my experience so that others may have some idea of what to expect.
I would go so far as to say that Canada is good for your heart… still, you should watch what you eat, especially in Montreal (the home of the poutine, and the première metropolis in North America for pâtisserie)
Here’s what happened
Confirm with the clinic what they want you to bring. The IRCC website has a few bullet points on this (e.g., reminding you to pack the Medical Report form IMM 1017E they send to you), but the clinic I went to did not require the photographs, for example. In the packed waiting room for my afternoon medical exam, my laptop helped pass the time. Consider bringing a book or a device to make the waiting periods (between segments of the exam) seem shorter. An email from the clinic had informed me that the exam would take 3 hours; it may have been a busy day, because the visit ran about an hour more than that.
After the first hour, peeing in a jar was the only accomplishment of which I could boast. After another hour, a photo was taken and $220 cash changed hands (the clinic I went to didn’t take plastic, so be sure to check ahead of time). They also put paperwork in my hand explaining the next steps, which before this point had remained a mystery: chest x-ray, blood draw to test for HIV and syphilis, and medical “consult” with a physician. I had brought my U.S. vaccination certificates, but they were not needed.
After a bit longer, I meet the good doctor and he takes me back for the most rudimentary examination: weight, blood pressure, and prodding of the chest. Oh, and “How’s your health? Any problems?” I surrendered some information about anxiety and insomnia, and I was done. The good doctor wished me well in my transition to Canadian life, assuring me not to worry about results of the exam. He was quite friendly, and a fine ambassador for the Canadian healthcare system (which I hear involves waiting, as I experienced on this occasion).
Final thoughts
If fasting is at all problematic for you, worry not: the blood draw for my exam did not require it—but confirm this is so with the clinic when setting up your appointment, just to be sure. A check box on my blood draw paperwork gave the impression that testing for hepatitis is an option available to the clinic, so perhaps this depends on your country of origin. I was expecting a somewhat comprehensive exam, but the level of detail I had imagined beforehand simply didn’t materialize during this screening process. Nonetheless, this is not to say that only grave and obvious health conditions could make you inadmissible to Canada; the dollar threshold for disallowing you (by creating an excessive annual demand on health or social services) is relatively low, so you may want to research that if you have a chronic condition.
Disclaimer: The above narrative was my own experience, and it remains unknown to me how much variation occurs between exams at different clinics or due to entering Canada on a different track.
— Victor