Bengaluru/IBNS-CMEDIA: A months-long struggle to access medical care in Canada has prompted an Indian-origin tech professional to abandon his permanent residency and return home, underscoring growing concerns over delays in the country’s public healthcare system.
Sahil Peris, a former consultant with Deloitte in Toronto, said a neck injury sustained during his MBA turned into a prolonged health crisis after he was unable to secure timely treatment.
Despite living what he described as a “comfortable” life abroad, he chose to relocate to Bengaluru after repeated setbacks in accessing care.
In a video shared on Instagram, Peris said he experienced “pain every day, and Canada’s healthcare system was just not helpful”.
He added that he approached at least 10 general practitioners (GPs) in Toronto, all refusals, before he finally secured one an hour away through personal contacts.
The GP rejected the specialist referral or MRI, stating he was not “crawling on the floor with pain”, deeming it insufficiently severe.
Without access to diagnostics or treatment, his condition worsened, making routine activities such as sitting or cooking increasingly difficult, he said.
Canada’s healthcare system requires patients to go through primary care gatekeepers before accessing specialists, a process that has come under strain amid physician shortages and long wait times.
Peris ultimately returned to India, where he was able to receive treatment and recover over time with family support.
Now based in Bengaluru as a content creator, he says the experience reshaped his priorities.
“Make sure you have good healthcare wherever you go,” Peris said, reflecting on his decision to leave behind what once appeared to be an ideal life abroad.
Canada’s median specialist wait reached 30 weeks in 2024, the longest on record, up 222% since 1993 as per the Fraser Institute, with 6.5 million lacking family doctors.
His story, widely circulated online, has reignited debate around healthcare accessibility in Canada, particularly among prospective immigrants weighing quality of life factors beyond employment opportunities.
(Reporting by Suman Das)
