WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
A Canadian doctor who made international headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic with his campaign to reunite cross-border families and couples has been charged with 43 crimes, including sexual assault, voyeurism and making child pornography, spanning the last 12 years.
David Edward-Ooi Poon’s licences to practise medicine in Ontario and Saskatchewan, where he was working as a public health doctor, have been suspended as a result.
The charges have not yet been tested in court. After the first two of the charges were filed, Poon’s lawyers told the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) that the accusations are unrelated to his medical practice, are unproven and and that he intends to “vigorously oppose” them.
Poon was featured many times on CBC News and in the New York Times, Global News, CTV News, the Toronto Star, a Russian state media outlet and various Canadian and American newspapers during the pandemic for his campaign to get the federal government to allow loved ones separated by border restrictions — like him and his partner — to reunite.
Toronto police initially charged Poon on Nov. 4, 2025, with one count each of accessing and possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material under the section of the Criminal Code that formerly dealt with child pornography.
Two weeks later, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan restricted his medical practice to patients 18 and older. On Dec. 4, 2025, the Ontario medical college followed suit and imposed even tighter restrictions while allowing Poon to continue practising.
At the time, the Ontario medical college’s inquiries, complaints and reports committee found that “the nature of the charges against the respondent are relevant to his suitability to practice. Possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material constitutes serious misconduct and is, in and of itself, a form of child abuse. The fact that the respondent has been charged with these criminal offences erodes the public’s trust in the medical profession and poses a potential risk of harm to patients.”
One week later on Dec. 11, Toronto police laid 41 additional charges.
The next day, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario suspended Poon’s licence, saying “the conduct of Dr. Poon exposes or is likely to expose his patients to harm or injury and urgent intervention is needed.”
The 41 charges comprise:
- Six counts of sexual assault between 2014 and 2023.
- Six counts of drugging someone to facilitate sexual assault.
- One count of sexual assault with a weapon described as an “intimate pleasure item” in 2017.
- Eighteen counts of voyeurism for a sexual purpose between 2014 and 2025.
- Five counts of making “child pornography in the form of photographs” in 2024.
- Five counts of possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material in 2024.
In all but four charges, the alleged victims are identified only as “an unknown person” or “a person.”
One of the alleged voyeurism incidents is purported to have occurred at an amusement park somewhere in Ontario in September 2024, while another allegedly took place at an unspecified Toronto music venue last February. The most recent charge was for an alleged April 2025 incident in Wainfleet, Ont., a township in Niagara Region.
Neither Poon nor his lawyers responded to multiple requests for comment from CBC News. A Toronto police spokesperson declined to comment further, citing the ongoing criminal case.
Former advocate, university lecturer
Prior to his arrest in late 2025, Poon had a wide public profile beyond his medical practice — much of which was from his advocacy to reunite people separated due to pandemic restrictions. In April 2020, Poon’s then-girlfriend (now wife), who lived in Ireland, was immediately sent home after arriving in Toronto on a flight to be with him.
The pair founded a group called Faces of Advocacy that testified before a parliamentary committee and pressed for changes to allow more non-citizens to enter Canada, with Poon taking credit for Ottawa’s decision in 2020 to expand the list to the grandparents, grandchildren and siblings of citizens, as well as cross-border couples who had been dating for at least a year.
Poon later ran for Parliament as an Independent in 2021, in the Toronto riding of then-public safety minister Bill Blair, in order to be able to confront him over Canada’s pandemic border rules. Poon finished in last place behind Blair and four other candidates.
Poon has two medical certifications: in public health, which he was practising as a medical officer of health in northern Saskatchewan, and in family medicine, practising psychotherapy in Ontario.
He was also an adjunct lecturer and associate program director at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. In a statement to CBC News, a U of T spokesperson said that Poon’s appointments at the university ceased in early December 2025.
The University of Saskatchewan likewise told CBC News that Poon provided contract services to its Northern Medical Services until November 2025, and had previously provided work as a “safety and wellness representative” for residents taking exams.
Dr. Udoka Okpalauwaekwe, a trained physician and PhD research officer at the university who provided research support for Northern Medical Services, told CBC News that his interactions with Poon in that context “were professional” and he “did not witness or experience any behaviour that raised concerns.”
“I was very surprised and saddened to learn of these allegations [and] was not aware of any concerns regarding Dr. Poon’s conduct during the time I interacted with him,” Okpalauwaekwe said.
Poon was released on bail following his first arrest in November. His bail carried strict conditions, including heavy limits on internet usage, a ban on using any social media and a prohibition on browsing the internet pseudonymously or anonymously.
He has not been granted bail following his second arrest, in December, according to court records.
Poon’s next scheduled court appearance is on Friday.
