Forward Regulatory Plan: 2024-2026
Regulatory Amendment Exempting Protected Persons in Canada from the Immigration Medical Examination Requirement When Applying for Permanent Residence

Enabling Act: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Description

This regulatory amendment will codify into the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations a public policy exempting certain in-Canada protected persons and their accompanying family members from the requirement to undergo a subsequent Immigration Medical Exam, as part of their application for permanent residence. The public policy has been in effect since September 10, 2020.

Changing the regulations would allow IRCC to continue to reduce the compliance burden for low-risk applicants, facilitate better client service, streamline processing requirements, and support increased admissions. In-Canada protected persons are considered low-risk from a public health perspective as they are pre-screened, having already undergone an IME in Canada; are linked into the health-care system; and are unlikely to have spent significant time outside of Canada while awaiting their protection decision.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international)

Regulatory cooperation efforts are not required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses

There are no expected impacts on Canadians or Canadian businesses.

Consultations

We will seek an exemption from pre-publication for this regulatory amendment because:

• The public policy has been in effect since 2020 and has been found to pose no public health or legal risk because IRCC can verify that applicants have previously completed an IME and were found to pose no risk to public health or safety or have complied with mandatory medical surveillance conditions, and have not left Canada since their initial IME to spend six or more months in a tuberculosis-designated country or territory.
• Stakeholders (mainly the Canadian Council for Refugees) were informed of the TPP so they could advise their membership and clients.
• No further consultations are planned since this regulatory amendment is considered a low risk, facilitative measure to ease operation pressures and enhance the client experience. It is considered administrative in nature.

Departmental contact information

Fariya SyedSenior
Director, Migration Health Policy & Partnerships Division
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Email: Fariya.syed@cic.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: April 1, 2024