Why this American doctor is leaving Utah to serve a remote community in B.C.

American physician Leo Bay and his family are busy boxing up their belongings and getting ready to leave their home in Utah.

They've decided to move to Canada where Bay will work as a family doctor on the Sunshine Coast.

When he, his wife and their three children first got off the ferry to visit Pender Harbour, they knew instantly it was where they wanted to live.

Bay has been practising medicine for eight years and has worked with remote communities as the associate chief medical information officer for Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

At the end of August, he starts at the Pender Harbour Health Centre providing care to 1,000 people in the remote B.C. coastal community.

"The opportunity to be able to live and work in that community is so exciting and so meaningful," Bay said.

B.C. has recruited more than 140 health-care workers from the U.S., minister says

"I think that there are lots of things within the U.S. health system that as a primary care doctor we struggle with," he said. "Insurances in the U.S. only cover very limited portions of things or have very strict restrictions."

The idea of coming to Canada five years ago would have been disruptive, he said, and felt impossible.

Back in July 2025, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. implemented bylaw changes that help U.S.-trained doctors become fully licensed in B.C. without the need for further assessment, examination or training if they hold certification from the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Board of Family Medicine or the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians.

B.C.'s Ministry of Health launched a $5-million digital advertising blitz in June 2025, targeting health workers in Washington state, Oregon and California. Ads have also been running in U.S. academic publications through September.

"Seeing the programs that were available, that really made a difference in making it feel like something that was feasible," Bay said.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 580 U.S. health-care workers, including 270 physicians, have accepted job offers in communities throughout B.C. as of March 2026.

"B.C. now has the most doctors per capita in Canada with more than 15,000 physicians, an increase of 23 per cent from 2017 to 2024," said the ministry.