On September 29, 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a major change regarding medical examinations for Express Entry applicants. As of October 1, 2023, prior medical examinations will no longer be required when submitting an application.
This update is designed to optimize the process and make it more efficient for candidates. Instead of systematically carrying out a medical examination, the IRCC now asks candidates to wait for specific instructions before taking this step. This will ensure that only those candidates for whom an examination is deemed essential will undergo this procedure, thus reducing the number of steps for a large number of candidates.
Processing offices will be informed and given instructions specifying situations requiring medical examination, certainly in special cases or in connection with public health issues.
It is imperative that candidates do not take any initiatives without explicit notification from IRCC, thus avoiding unnecessary costs and complications in the processing of their files.
In short, this update simplifies the Express Entry process. However, applicants must remain attentive to IRCC's instructions to ensure that their applications run smoothly.