Archive - Medical Assessment / Inadmissibility

Please visit our Medical Admissibility Requirements page for current information.

Every applicant for a Canada Immigration Visa, and some applicants for temporary status in Canada, are required to undergo a medical examination by a medical officer. Though this is generally confined to a standard physical exam including blood and urine tests and x-rays, prior medical records, as well as the applicant's mental state, are examined.

Applicants may be rejected solely on medical grounds, if:

• Their condition would endanger the health or safety of the Canadian population at large;
• Their admission might cause excessive demand on social or health services provided by the government; or
• Their condition might reasonably prevent them from supporting themselves and those dependent upon them.

When determining whether any person is inadmissible on medical grounds, the medical officer is obliged to consider the nature, severity or probable duration of any health impairment from which the person is suffering,as well as other factors, such as whether there is danger of contagion, whether unpredictable or unusual behaviour may create a danger to public safety, or whether the supply of health or social services that the person may require in Canada is limited to such an extent that the use of such services may not be available or accessible to the person or may deprive Canadian nationals of these services; whether medical care or hospitalization is required.

The medical officer has five criteria on which to base his or her assessment of admissibility.

In order to give a medical opinion in terms that are clearly understood and accepted by both medical and Canadian immigration authorities, a system of assessment has been developed whereby an applicant is assigned a medical profile.

This medical profile consists of a coded series of letters and numbers based on the two principal criteria and the three supporting criteria mentioned above. The five criteria are:

• H - Risk to Public Safety or Public Health
• D - Expected Demand on Health or Social Services
• T - Response to Medical Treatment
• S - Surveillance
• E - Potential Employability or Productivity

Under each criterion is a list of descriptive categories. Taken as a whole, the ratings assigned under each criterion form the basis for a legally binding medical opinion regarding admissibility. This opinion is expressed by the symbol "M" at the end of the profile and represents the combined significance of the five criteria. It is indicated symbolically as:

M - Statement of Medical Status

Ml - No health impairment sufficient to prevent admission

M2 - Has a condition for which the degree of risk to public health or safety is not sufficient to exclude admission, but which risk should be considered in relation to other personal and social criteria.

M3 - Has a condition for which the potential demand on health or social services is not sufficient to exclude admission, but which risk should be considered in relation to other personal and social criteria.

M4 - Has a condition that is likely to endanger public health or safety to such an extent that the applicant is at present inadmissible, but for which the expected response to treatment is such that future admission could be considered.

M5 - Has a condition that is likely to cause demand on health or social services to such an extent that the applicant is not at present admissible, but for which the expected response to treatment is such that future admission could be considered.

M6 - Has a condition that is a danger to public health or safety and which is not likely to respond to treatment in such a way as to allow admission in the foreseeable future.

M7 - Has a condition that could cause excessive demand on health or social services, and which is not likely to respond to treatment. Please note that medical assessment is done on a case-by-case basis, taking all aspects of an applicant's condition into account. The references below should be taken only as general guidelines, not as absolutely applicable in all cases.

Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Active pulmonary tuberculosis will be assessed M4, inadmissible as a danger to public health

Inactive Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Inactive pulmonary tuberculosis may be generally profiled as M2 (conditionally admissible subject to public health surveillance).

Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis

Although not normally considered infectious, such cases should be placed under surveillance and profiled: M2