American family doctor relocates to British Columbia's remote Pender Harbour

Leo Bay, a family physician with eight years of practice and prior experience in remote U.S. communities, is preparing to leave Utah for Pender Harbour on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. He will start at the local health centre in late August, serving roughly 1,000 people in the coastal settlement. Recent amendments by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. allow doctors holding American board certification to be licensed without additional assessments, making the transition feasible.

The B.C. Ministry of Health says more than 580 U.S. health-care workers, including 270 physicians, have accepted jobs in the province as of March 2026. Bay will work alongside Derek Williams, a former Montana practitioner, expanding the clinic’s staff from one part-time doctor for 500 residents to two physicians for about 2,000 community members. Additional doctors from Ohio and the U.K. have also recently joined the Sunshine Coast, easing a long-standing physician shortage.