Travel insurance is your best companion when you travel abroad or domestically as it protects you in the case of an emergency. Your Canadian insurance is not valid outside Canada. And, your provincial or territorial health plan may cover a very small portion of the costs if you get sick or are injured while abroad, if anything at all.
Hospitals and clinics in some countries have been known to refuse to treat patients who become ill or who have had an accident if they don’t have adequate travel health insurance or the money to pay their bills. You could face years of debt paying off the costs of treatment for an illness or accident you suffered abroad. The Government of Canada will not pay your medical bills.