Alberta’s Health Statutes Amendment Act 2026 (“Bill 29”) will lengthen wait times for diagnostic testing for the majority of patients

Prepared by: Esha Garrioch for Canadian Doctors for Medicare

July 3, 2026

On May 14, 2026, Alberta’s Bill 29 — the Health Statutes Amendment Act 2026 — received royal assent and became law.¹ The Act allows Albertans to access privately paid, ‘preventative health’ tests without a physician referral. In an announcement video by Premier Danielle Smith and Primary and Preventative Health Service Minister Adriana LeGrange, they indicate this encompasses “any diagnostic or screening services they choose,” including MRIs and CT scans, ‘full body’ scans, and blood work.² Bill 29 should not be confused with Alberta’s earlier private-pay health care initiatives, like Bill 11 (Health Statutes Amendment Act 2025, No. 2). “Bill 11” became law in December 2025 and enables physicians to simultaneously charge some patients privately for care while billing the public health insurance system for others – a tactic called “dual practice” that provides preferential care to those who can afford to pay out of pocket.³ The former “Bill 29” shifts decision-making authority over diagnostic testing from health care professionals to individual consumers. This will create a new market for privately-purchased medical imaging and screening services, representing a significant departure from the established system of physician oversight.

Minister LaGrange claims the Act will “free up the public system and help identify medical conditions early.” However, one of the primary contributors to lengthy wait times for diagnostic testing in Alberta and across Canada is the shortage of skilled technicians trained to perform these tests.⁴ Rather than alleviating pressure on the public system, the Act risks exacerbating this workforce shortage, by creating financial incentives to move from the public sector to private-pay services.⁵ This shift will increase public wait times, strain on public health care resources, and barriers to medically necessary diagnostic testing for individuals who cannot afford private services.^5,6

Clinical appropriateness of testing and test selection is also a major concern. The standard process of physician referral crucially relies on health practitioners’ specialized medical knowledge to recommend the most appropriate test.⁷ Follow-up with these practitioners is also necessary to review and interpret results and develop treatment plans as required. However, self-referred patients will independently seek testing, increasing the likelihood of ordering incorrect and unnecessary tests. There has also been no indication that additional staff will be tasked with interpreting the diagnostic test results. Presumably, individuals must return to physicians within the public system for an interpretation of their results, increasing demand on public health care resources. Medical imaging, such as MRIs, consistently produce false positives or incidental findings that do not require clinical treatment, which is why they are typically ordered only when clinical symptoms present. The Alberta Medical Association notes private self-referred tests are expected to have low clinical value while placing increased pressure on the public system, with costs to the provincial government estimated to be $1 million annually.⁵

The Act demonstrates the Alberta government’s continued push toward health care privatization. This legislation continues the trend of weakening the Canadian Medicare system and prioritizing convenience for those who can pay, rather than access for those most in need of services. It will contribute to the normalization of out-of-pocket payments for medical care and the establishment of a two-tier health care system.

Alternative policies to address long wait times for diagnostic testing should prioritize expanding resources and integrating efficiency-enhancing digital tools. Investments that increase the number of medical technicians hired and trained, as well as expand the amount of medical equipment available within the province, will help meet the demand for diagnostic testing and decrease wait times.⁴ The integration of centralized intake systems that maintain clinical records and reduce administrative redundancies will significantly improve public health care efficiency.⁸ 

These solutions will expand access and improve efficiency, rather than rearranging waiting lists according to financial means and superfluously inflating demand.

Canadian Doctors for Medicare is calling for the Alberta government to reconsider the portion of the Health Statutes Amendment Act 2026 that allows for private purchasing of diagnostic testing. Forthcoming regulations can mitigate the negative impact of this problematic legislation.

1. Bill 29, Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2nd Sess, 31st Leg, Alberta, 2026.
2. Smith, Danielle. Faster access to preventative care [Video]. YouTube. Published October 22, 2025. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banFgySHZ3A
3. Bill 11, Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2nd Sess, 31st Leg, Alberta, 2025.
4. Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists. National report: Medical radiation technologist workforce crisis. Published 2025. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://camrt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/MRT-Workforce-Crisis.pdf
5. Alberta Medical Association. Self-referred private-pay diagnostic imaging and screening laboratory services: Environmental scan. Published 2026. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.albertadoctors.org/media/byqmaf5z/self-referral-private-pay-lab-and-di.pdf
6. Williams E. Alberta moves to allow private diagnostic tests without a doctor’s referral. CBC News. April 14, 2026. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-allow-private-diagnostic-tests-without-doctors-note-9.7162141.
7. Wirzba B. Bill 29’s proposal and youth proxy access update. Alberta Medical Association. April 24, 2026. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.albertadoctors.org/news/publications/presidents-letter/bill-29s-proposal-and-youth-proxy-access-update/.
8. Yan TD, Jalal S, Harris A. Value-Based Radiology in Canada: Reducing Low-Value Care and Improving System Efficiency. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2025;76(1):61-67. doi:10.1177/08465371241277110