Time is up: Health Minister Marjorie Michel must respond to Alberta’s Bill 11 announcement
The Canadian Health Coalition joins Alberta public health care advocates and frontline health care unions in opposition to the harmful health care regulatory changes announced today by Adriana LaGrange, Alberta Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services.
The implementation of Bill 11, also known as the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (No. 2), creates an unfair, two-tier U.S.-style health care system for Albertans where the wealthy can jump the queue for medically necessary services, while wait times for everyone else will become longer because of the lack of staff available to the public system. Equally worrisome, Bill 11 opens the market for medically necessary services to private insurance companies.
The Canadian Health Coalition is disappointed with Canada’s Health Minister Marjorie Michel for allowing Alberta to move forward with this flagrant violation of the Canada Health Act, the federal cornerstone legislation regulating over $7 billion in annual federal health transfers to Alberta through the Canada Health Transfer.
A legal opinion released on May 5, 2026 by Goldblatt Partners LLP found that Bill 11 is, “the most extensive privatization of payment for medically necessary services in Canada since the Canada Health Act was enacted in 1984.” If Bill 11 is allowed to stand in Alberta, then Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government will be responsible for every other province that follows Alberta in violating the Canada Health Act, which will destroy Canada’s cherished public health care system, and leave future generations with a U.S.-style health care system.
We reiterate our call on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to abandon these harmful changes, and to fund Alberta’s public health care system sufficiently. Furthermore, we call on federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel to take all steps possible to bring Alberta back into conformity with the Canada Health Act, and to prevent other provinces and territories from following this dangerous precedent. It is her responsibility to uphold the Canada Health Act, the purpose of which is to ensure everyone can access the care they need based on medical need, not on their ability to pay.
The Canadian Health Coalition was founded in 1979 and comprises community groups and frontline health care unions who share a commitment to defending and expanding public health care in Canada.
