There simply aren't medical facilities in a lot of remote / regional Canada. If you need a fairly complex or specialized surgery you're essentially going to a

There simply aren't medical facilities in a lot of remote / regional Canada. If you need a fairly complex or specialized surgery you're essentially going to a big city or regional hub. Keep in mind that Canada may be huge, but has less people than California, and most of them are concentrated in a handful of places. Anecdotal: my wife's wait for an orthopedic surgeon was 3 days... but was in a city 1.5 hours away.