I had two friends from Europe visit recently, it took ages to convince them that they should buy insurance cover.
They were here for just over a five weeks, about 25 days into their visit, the husband fell and hurt his ribs and back quite badly.
He needed:
An ambulance, emergency doctor, just one night in hospital, some medication, x-rays, a couple of follow up visits to the doctor.
The final cost was about $5200, his insurance paid for everything (apart from a small deductible).
The price of his insurance policy was nowhere near $5200.
He was very positive about the care that he received here, but could not believe the cost.
We pay for our medical services in Canada, in my view it should be mandatory for visitors to have insurance while they are here.
The friends must have enjoyed themselves despite the accident, they are saving their money to come back to Ottawa next summer - oddly enough, they now tell everyone to buy insurance.