More than two million surgeries are performed every year in Canada, and behind every cut, stitch, or scar - there's a story. On this episode we're getting into the ripple effects of going under the knife, for better or for worse.

When Gilles Landreville noticed a small cut on his foot, he couldn’t have known that a week later, he’d be waking up in hospital, missing two-thirds of his left leg. But as Gilles adjusts to life in a new body, he’s also finding a new identity: Gilles 2.0, an update that refuses to let his circumstances bring him down—and is determined to help other people navigate tough changes too.

Ashley Hiebert wants to celebrate her 10 year anniversary of donating a kidney to a stranger, by doing it again: this time, she's donating part of her liver to someone she's never met. The only thing standing in her way isn't fear, it's finances.

How does performing surgery change you? Hear from second-year medical student Samuel Bonne, pediatric surgeon Dr. Tito Daodu, and thoracic surgeon Dr. Ikennah Browne about the experiences in the OR that changed them.

For some reason vasectomies are the butt of many jokes, but for 26-year-old Daniel McIntyre-Ridd, choosing to get one before ever having children was no laughing matter.

Jessica Fitchett has always been good with her hands. She planned to combine welding and art to create big things. But an accident at work changed everything.

When Marie and Erik Matchett travelled to India to adopt their daughter Norah, they knew she had a bilateral cleft lip and palate — but they didn’t yet know the extent of the surgeries she’d need or how they’d calm their nervous little girl during hospital visits. That’s when Big Brave Norah came into play, a nickname that’s inspired confidence in more kids than they imagined.

For nine seasons Ify Chiwetelu and Trevor Dineen have been with Canadians in their most personal now or never moments, when they’re on the brink of something new, striving for a goal or making a change.

But what happens after the interview?

Today we’re diving in with past guests to find out if they really did what they said they would, and how it all turned out.

Sophie Davie was five months pregnant when she told us how nervous (but empowered) she felt having a baby all on her own. Seventeen months later, we knock on her door to meet the daughter she always wanted and see if the dream of single motherhood matches up to the reality of going it alone.

In 1970 beauty queen Darlene Williams rode in a 1970 Pink Panther Dodge Challenger convertible as part of her reign. More than 50 years later Winnipegger Pat Kanuiga had that same car in pieces in his garage, but promised Darlene she would ride in it again. So did it happen?

When we last left De Vine Thomas she was months away from graduating high school and dreaming of leaving Peguis First Nation - the reserve where she grew up - to pursue her fashion dreams. Did she fulfill her dreams to move away from her community until she was “a real old lady”?

Toronto’s Aaron Brown has dreamed of competing on his favourite gameshow, Jeopardy, for as long as he can remember. He applied 16 times, he hosted trivia as his job, and carried around a clicker to practice his speed. But did all that matter when the show finally called?

Two weeks after Corine Mathurin moved to Montreal from Toronto, she explained to her good friend Ify it was because she wasn’t getting what she needed in her community. She wanted closer connections and more meet ups with friends in real life. Today Ify calls Corine up to find out if she got what she was looking for.

As political divisiveness becomes the new norm, it can get harder to see the other side, and understand why people vote the way they do.

But instead of demonizing those on the other end of the political spectrum, why not lean in and get curious as to why people believe what they do?

On this special election edition of Now or Never, hear from five different Canadians — an 18-year-old, a pastor, a Panamanian-Canadian immigrant, a gun enthusiast, and a senior citizen — about the personal experience shaping the way they’ll be voting in this federal election.

Gale Uhlmann has a job since she was 15-years-old, working as a trucker, waitress, and office worker. Now at 74, Gale's still working -- but not by choice. She doesn't have enough savings to retire, or to pay $10 000 for the new teeth she needs: "You're a statistic. And they don't - how can I put it nicely - they don't give a damn about what we're encountering."

Firearms were a big part of what brought Patrick Osborne and his wife Tara together. After she passed away from cancer in 2022, it’s also shaping how he’s planning to vote in this election.

Although he’s been a Canadian citizen for 20 years, Fernando Ameth Pinzon has never voted in a federal election. But Donald Trump’s comments about his home country have shifted something in him, bringing him back to a place he hasn’t been in a while: his childhood in Panama.

When Jason McAllister and his family moved into their new neighborhood in Prince George, B.C., bail reform wasn’t even a thought. After five years of living near a home where he frequently witnessed drug use and police raids, it’s become a key election issue.

18-year-old Harman Banga is casting her first vote in a federal election, something she’s been looking forward to since she was a child. But recently, voting has become even more personal for Harman — her parents both work in the auto industry and their jobs are threatened by tariffs.