EDMONTON — This Wednesday, as Canada’s Premiers were meeting in Charlottetown for the Council of Federation, the Alberta government quietly issued Orders in Council which reclassified all preventive health testing services as non-insured extended health services, as well as other regulatory changes.
“The very same day that Premiers were discussing the need for provincial, territorial and federal collaboration to protect health care access, Alberta was quietly making moves to circumvent the Canada Health Act and further pave the way for two-tier, American-style health care in our province,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “The Premier ran last election on a ‘Public Health Guarantee,’ repeatedly promising that her government would not delist any medical procedures from public funding and that no Albertans would have to pay out of pocket to access care. Yet here we are. What a betrayal of Albertans who took the Premier at her word in the last election.”
This follows the passing of Bill 29, Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 this May, which permits for-profit companies to charge Albertans for diagnostic services without referral. This legislation, along with Bill 11, have prompted significant opposition from organizations from within Alberta and across Canada, alarmed over the threat two-tier health care poses to our health care systems by permitting preferential paid access that will siphon much-needed personnel and resources out of our public health care system and lengthen wait times for the majority of patients.
Also gathered in Charlottetown this week were Canada’s health coalitions, including Friends of Medicare, as well as health care workers, patients, and other organizations from across the country. On Wednesday, a large gathering of people rallied outside of the Council of the Federation to call on Premiers to reject two-tier health care, and on the Prime Minister to enforce the Canada Health Act.
“The majority of Canadians believe that everyone deserves timely access to quality public health care when they need it, regardless of their ability to pay. Yet Alberta’s government seems intent on ignoring those voices, while doubling-down on failed privatization, bolstering a private insurance industry and constructing more barriers to access,” said Gallaway. “Which is why more and more people all across the country are turning their attention to what the Alberta government is doing in health care, and speaking out against it.”
“We urgently need our governments to recognize Canada’s public health care as the important nation-building project that it is, one that supports greater equity and better health outcomes, while also ensuring a strong economy. We need our leaders to be taking collaborative efforts to implement real, evidence-based solutions to improve public health care for each and every one of us,” concluded Gallaway.
Friends of Medicare continues to call on the UCP government to end the imposition of two-tier, American-style health care, and on the Federal Health Minister to enforce the Canada Health Act. We urge every Albertan to amplify those calls.
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