Alberta Premier Danielle Smith plans to allow private sector surgeries alongside public procedures to reduce wait times, as reported by the Epoch Times.

The government's proposed legislation, announced Nov. 19, would allow surgeons and staff to perform both publicly and privately funded surgeries. This follows the draft legislation's leak and subsequent criticism from the opposition.

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The health ministry declined comment on the Nov. 18 proposal, promising Albertans would not be forced to pay for medical care.

The "dual practice surgery model" would allow physicians to perform privately funded elective surgeries (like knee, hip, eye, and shoulder procedures) after hours or on weekends, provided they commit to a minimum number of publicly funded surgeries annually.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi called the measure a step toward health-care privatization and “American-style two-tiered health care,” warning that wait times would increase for those unable to pay because fewer people would be left in the public system.

Smith's new model proposes allowing privately-paid, off-hours surgeries to reduce public wait times at no taxpayer cost. The tabling date for the legislation was not specified.

Smith stated on Nov. 19 that “One challenge we face is that surgeons are not doing all the surgeries they could because the public health system can’t afford the operating room time.” This leads to long patient wait times, prevents surgeons from performing all possible surgeries, and causes some frustrated surgeons to leave Canada.

The new model would keep surgeons and specialists in the public system and happier by allowing them to perform more surgeries. This is expected to reduce the number of doctors leaving Alberta and attract back those who previously left for better opportunities.

A new survey indicates nearly six in 10 Canadians support reforming the public health care system, including using private clinics to address delays in timely care.https://t.co/w3BSvCyMDu

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) November 18, 2025

The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) lauded the province's plan as a "win for patients," arguing that doctor flexibility across public and private sectors improves patient access. MEI economist Emmanuelle B. Faubert stated this in a Nov. 18 news release.

The premier stated the government's proposed initiative mirrors systems in some European nations and will be "closely monitored to protect our public health-care system."

SecondStreet.org and Leger recently polled over 1,600 adults nationwide on five health care reform options based on "better-performing" universal systems globally.

Nearly six in 10 (59%) Canadians support reforming the public healthcare system, including using private clinics to reduce delays in timely care—an approach many provinces utilized during the pandemic to tackle backlogs.

Another 59% favour maintaining the public system while allowing patients to use their money or extended health insurance for timely private clinic care. 

Canada's highest court refused to hear an April 6 appeal on access to private healthcare, despite Québecers having such access while other provinces do not.

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— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 16, 2023

“To be clear, the [United Conservative Party] public health guarantee continues to be in full force—no one will ever be forced to pay out of pocket for a needed hip, knee, or other surgery,” Smith clarified. “Everything your Alberta Health Insurance covers today remains covered.”

Public service safeguards include requiring surgeons to keep separate records to prevent public funding from subsidizing private care, meet a fixed public surgery quota, and potentially restrict specialties to public practice if shortages harm public care. 

Life-threatening or emergency surgeries, like cancer treatment, will remain exclusively publicly funded with no private alternative.