BC Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network

Medical tourism refers to situations where individuals travel to another country for the purpose of obtaining health care services, in some cases, combined with a vacation. This is distinct from individuals who receive emergency services while abroad on vacation, due to an unforeseen injury or disease. BC patients do travel to other countries to receive care, but there is no solid information on volumes. There is a long history of Canadians going to the US for specialty services or those with long waits. Canadians also travel to other countries to receive services which are experimental, or not legal in Canada.