The P.E.I. Health Coalition is raising concerns about the Alberta government’s plan to expand private health care and is calling for the federal government to step in.

Alberta’s Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (No. 2), also known as Bill 11, passed last year. The law allows doctors to work both in public and private health care, with the aim of reducing wait times.

But some health advocates say that it paves the way for a two-tiered system, similar to what is used in the United States, and sets a dangerous precedent for other provinces.

“We’ve never had anything like this in Canada before, and it has to be stopped.” said coalition chair Mary Boyd, at a press conference Monday.

It is part of a bigger movement taking place across the country. The P.E.I. Health Coalition and 23 other organizations issued a joint call to action for Prime Minister Mark Carney and Health Minister Marjorie Michel earlier this month.

They want the federal government to conduct a review of Bill 11, which the organizations say “abandons the foundational principles on which Canada’s health care system has been built, as enshrined in the Canada Health Act,” according to the call to action.

“One of the fundamental things for Canadians is free health care and, regardless of socioeconomic status or ability to pay, Canadians expect, and Islanders [expect], access to health care for free without it causing undue financial hardship,” said Kim Sears, the president of the P.E.I Nurses’ Union.

Sears says she also worries the bill will make it difficult to retain health care staff as much as is needed in the public system.

Privatization is not a new concern

This is not the first time privatization has been debated on the Island.

Unions representing health-care workers spoke out after comments former Health P.E.I. CEO, Melanie Fraser, made about privatization and public health-care services during a legislative committee meeting.

“I don’t personally get too fussed about whether someone is private, broader public sector, a university,” Melanie Fraser said on Jan. 22 when discussing a private MRI clinic that was set to open in Summerside.

Fraser said health-care decisions should be good for patients and staff, provide value for money and deliver safe, high quality care — whether it comes from a public or private provider.

But delivery models that allow private companies to “swoop in” to fill gaps in health care are part of the “privatization playbook,” Ashley Clark, president of CUPE P.E.I., which represents about 1,000 health-care workers, said at the time.

“What the evidence shows is that in the long-term, private enterprises are not as effective, they’re not as equitable and they don’t serve the community as well as public services,” Clark said. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has previously said that the law aims to reduce wait times by increasing the number of surgeries able to be performed while incentivizing doctors to stay in the province.

Bill 11 is expected to be implemented in phases throughout 2026.