Alberta is privatizing health care and it threatens public health care across Canada
- Ontario Health Coalition
- 9 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Ontario Health Coalition Urgent Briefing
December 16, 2025
Alberta's government, led by Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party, passed a new law, Bill 11 The Health Statutes Amendment Act, last week. With its passage the existential threat for public medicare in Canada is here. The new law sets up two-tier medicare and private health insurance in Alberta. It is terrible for Albertans, destroys single-tier public medicare in Canada as a national achievement, and puts at threat public health care across the country. It follows on the heels of the Alberta government repeated use of the Notwithstanding Clause to be enable violations of the Canadian Constitution and Charter of Rights and an emboldened push for Alberta's separation from Canada among some forces in the province.
This attack on public health care threatens all of Canada. It would be naïve, indeed, to believe that private insurance companies will stop at the Alberta border. Moreover, the trade agreements carve out public health care only so long as it is public. The new law is an abrogation of our national values and the beliefs that we hold dear: that Canadians should take care of one another, that we believe in equity and compassion, and that judge and janitor would have an equal interest in a high-quality public health system because access to care would be based on medical need, not how rich you are.
It is hard to overstate how destructive this legislation is.
For those who want to understand the basics, please see the overview, note on manipulative language and the consequences sections below. For those who want more details about the actual legislation and how it works, please see the analysis of the act further below. I hope this email is helpful to understand what is happening. Clearly we need a national fightback commensurate to the threat. We are working on that now.
Thank you,
Natalie Mehra
Executive Director
Ontario Health Coalition
Ontario Health Coalition, PO Box 113 North York ON M3C 2R6 | T: 416-441-2502 |