The Canada medical exam, and who actually needs one

Yes. IRCC states that if you apply for permanent residence, you must have an immigration medical exam. There is no country test and no length-of-stay test for permanent residence, unlike temporary residence. So does your spouse or common-law partner and each of your dependent children, including any who are staying in India. Your parents and your brothers and sisters do not, because they are not on your application. Sponsoring a parent or grandparent is a separate application, and they need their own exam on that one.

After you receive your invitation to apply, and before you submit. That is IRCC’s own instruction, and it is a window rather than a deadline. Doing it earlier is a real risk because results are valid for 12 months, so an exam taken while you are still in the pool can expire before you land in Canada, and you would pay for and sit a second one.

Yes. IRCC states that your family members must also have a medical exam even if they are not coming with you, and the same applies to a spouse, partner or child being sponsored. People routinely book only for the people who are travelling, discover the gap later, and add weeks to a file that was otherwise complete. It covers a spouse or partner and dependent children. It does not cover parents or siblings.

No. IRCC states plainly that your own doctor cannot do the medical exam and that you must see a physician on its approved panel. A report from any other doctor, however senior the hospital, does not count and the money spent on it is not recoverable. IRCC publishes a finder for approved physicians by country.

No, and this is worth understanding before you walk in anxious. IRCC states that the panel physician does not make the final decision about your medical exam and that IRCC makes that decision. The physician examines you and reports. If there is a problem, IRCC contacts you in writing. A panel physician cannot approve or refuse your application.

Usually not. IRCC requires one from a temporary resident only if you are coming for more than six months and have lived in or travelled to a designated country for six months or more in the year before, or you will work in a job where public health must be protected, or you are applying for a parent and grandparent super visa. India is listed as "yes" on IRCC's table of 285 countries and territories, with the medical office shown as New Delhi, so an Indian applicant coming for longer than six months should expect to need one. A two week holiday does not.

Twelve months. If you are a student or worker, the letter of introduction shows the date your results expire. There is also a separate rule worth knowing for anyone already in Canada: a temporary public policy runs to 5 October 2029 exempting certain people in Canada from a further exam if their previous one was within the last five years and indicated low or no risk.