An estimated 30–50 Canadians travel each year to China, India, and the Philippines for kidney transplants because waiting lists for the operation are so long at home; they can be up to six years in Toronto.

Accurate figures are not available, but medical experts say the practice is quite common. Dr Jeffrey Zaltsman, director of St Michael's Hospital renal transplant programme in Toronto, says “We've had lots of patients who have gone [abroad]. Some tell us and some don't tell us; …