BC based Dr. Gurdev Gill was the first Indo-Canadian to graduate from UBC’s School of Medicine in 1957 – at a time when immigration policy was still biased towards Europeans and residents of South Asian origin were not treated as equal members of society.

Gill had only arrived in Vancouver from India’s Punjab region eight years earlier in 1949 and became a citizen in 1954. 

After retiring from his New Westminster practice in recent years, Gill today spends six months of each year in his native Punjab and his village of Kharoudi where he was born. His time is invested in health and education projects that have improved sanitation, introduced solar street lighting and computer education in schools.

India’s sanitation is recognized as among the worst in the world – Gill’s projects have focused on providing clean, running drinking water, and building underground sewage systems and waste water treatment plants.

The result is a marked decrease in disease – especially gastroenteritis, responsible for 400,000 deaths in India annually.

Dr. Gill’s projects have so far been carried out in 16 communities in Punjab at a cost of approximately $3 million.

Along with the health benefits, Gill is happy to report improvements in gender equality, education, governance and employment.

UBC is recognising Gill’s grassroots fuelled achievements with a Global Citizenship Award (2013).

His projects fend off corruption by insisting on as much transparency in the process as possible and keeping costs low.

Dr. Gill has participated in community projects of many types over his years in Indian and in BC.

As a student at UBC in the 1950’s, he co-founded the East India Student Association and served as its first secretary. During the 1960s he lobbied government in his official capacity as president of the East Indian Welfare Association. In 1970, the Khalsa Diwan Society, under his leadership, raised funds to build a Sikh temple on Ross Street in Vancouver, an important resource for the Indo-Canadian community.

In 1990 Dr. Gill became the first Indo-Canadian to receive the Order of BC. On the 125th anniversary of confederation, he received a commemorative medal from the Government of Canada. He received an honorary degree from UBC in 1996.