Dr. Gurdev Singh Gill, Canada's 1st Indo-Canadian physician, dead at 92
CTV
Dr. Gurdev Singh Gill, the first Canadian born in India to become a doctor in Canada, has died.
Dr. Gurdev Singh Gill, the first Canadian born in India to become a doctor in Canada, has died.
In a statement announcing his death, Gill's family described the father of four as "a special person whose impact on the lives of people in both Canada and India goes far beyond what anyone can read or see."
Born in the village of Kharoudi in 1931, Gill came to North America by boat in 1949, first meeting with his grandfather in southern California before taking a train to Seattle and a ferry to Vancouver Island, where his father Dilbag was living.
Gill became a Canadian citizen in 1954 and graduated from UBC in 1956, settling in New Westminster, where he practised medicine for 40 years.
In addition to his work as a physician, he co-founded the East Indian Welfare Society and travelled to Ottawa to lobby the federal government on issues important to the Indo-Canadian community, including family reunification and recognition of foreign credentials.
An active member of Metro Vancouver's Sikh community, Gill served as president of the Khalsa Diwan Society and was instrumental in raising funds for the construction of the Ross Street Gurdwara in Vancouver in 1970, according to his family.
Gill also founded the Indo Canadian Friendship Society, which funds village improvement projects in Punjab.
