{"id":653180,"date":"2026-05-07T06:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T06:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/653180\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T06:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T06:32:41","slug":"b-c-sues-ontario-doctor-525k-for-failing-to-work-off-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/653180\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. sues Ontario doctor $525K for failing to work off debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

After paying over $525K to fund the doctor’s residency, the B.C. government claims she failed to work off her debt, and instead left for Ontario<\/p>\n

The B.C. government is suing a family doctor for more than $525,000, alleging she breached a \u201creturn of service\u201d contract when she failed to work off her\u00a0provincially funded residency\u2014instead choosing to practice medicine in\u00a0Ontario.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Filed Tuesday, April 21 in B.C. Supreme Court, the notice of civil claim names Dr. Laxsanna Sivananthan, a family doctor who now practices medicine at a clinic near Toronto.<\/p>\n

In 2020, records show Sivananthan graduated from an Irish medical school that is not recognized by medical accreditation bodies in Canada.<\/p>\n

After finishing school, the defendant \u201cchose\u201d to complete her medical residency in B.C., and\u00a0in May 2021, entered into a \u201creturn of service\u201d agreement that would allow her to practice\u00a0medicine\u00a0in Canada, the petition claims.<\/p>\n

That agreement stipulated that B.C.’s Ministry of Health would pay for the cost of Sivananthan\u2019s residency at the University of British Columbia. In return, the defendant would obtain a placement with a Vancouver Coastal Health Authority recruiter in her last year of residency.<\/p>\n

The idea, according to the contract, would be that the family doctor would be placed for two to three years in an \u201carea in need of physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

While at UBC, Sivananthan\u00a0co-authored an\u00a0op-ed<\/a> in The Toronto Star,\u00a0looking\u00a0at the effect of B.C.’s new doctor payment model designed to reduce paperwork for family practitioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the introduction of this new payment model, B.C. saw more than a 20 per cent increase in family doctors starting practices, amounting to nearly 700 doctors,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

The opinion piece concluded with a call for Canada\u2019s largest province to follow B.C.\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cOntario must act fast to replicate this success. The need to attract and retain family doctors is urgent, and B.C. has demonstrated that compensating for unpaid labour is a key step toward ensuring patients receive the care they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The petition alleges Sivananthan completed her UBC residency in family medicine June 6, 2025. But over the coming months, she never reached out to a recruiter and never completed her high-need doctor placement, alleges the province.<\/p>\n

Contrary to their contract, the suit claims Sivananthan told the B.C. government she had \u201cno intention\u201d of securing a doctor placement in the province.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 4, 2025, she received a certificate of registration to practice medicine from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims that Sivananthan acknowledged receipt of B.C.\u2019s demand for repayment for the cost of her residency. But according to the province, she has not repaid any of the owed money.<\/p>\n

The B.C. government is seeking a judgment from the court to enforce the contract and order Sivananthan to repay $525,725, plus interest. The province is also seeking a long list of damages.<\/p>\n

The petition identifies Sivananthan’s last known address at a home in\u00a0a suburban residential neighbourhood of Scarborough, Ont.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Business in Vancouver spoke to one of her colleagues at a Toronto-area clinic. A request for comment passed on to Sivananthan had\u00a0not been returned by the time of publication.<\/p>\n

None of the claims have been tested in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After paying over $525K to fund the doctor’s residency, the B.C. government claims she failed to work off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-653180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}