Alberta is planning legislative changes that would let people pay out of pocket for diagnostic and preventive tests, such as MRIs, CT scans and full-body scans — without a doctor’s order.
Some private testing is already available in Alberta. However, the government says options are currently limited, and adds if a privately purchased test reveals a significant or critical condition, then the out-of-pocket cost would be reimbursed, “ensuring no Albertan pays for a medically necessary test.”
The government argues the move will increase availability and ease pressure on public resources, while improving early detection and health outcomes.
Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s minister of primary and preventative health services, framed the plan as a modernization push.
“We want to see a flood of investment and health professionals into Alberta to strengthen our preventative health-care system for Albertans right across the province,” LaGrange said in a government video. “This will help us to do it.”
But some cautioned the plan could end up leaving more Albertans behind while putting more pressure on the public health-care system.
“This will have major ramifications and will absolutely collapse our public health-care system, and will absolutely set up a system where those that have resources and money are gonna get much better and faster care,” said Dr. Paul Parks, president-elect of the Alberta Medical Association’s section of emergency medicine.
Officials added physician-recommended tests would “continue to be fully covered and prioritized in all facilities, public or private.”
The problem at hand doesn’t have to do with a lack of technicians, according to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. The problem is that Alberta only pays for a certain number of procedures, she said Thursday.
“[Alberta Health Services], when they were managing all of this, they ration care. And as a result, we know that we’ve got unused capacity. We want to be able to use the full capacity and also have people be able to take preventative and diagnostic tests,” Smith said.
“But more important, if somebody finds something, we want to reimburse them and get them into treatment … right now, that doesn’t take place.”
Some, including Renaud Brossard, vice-president of communications at the Montreal Economic Institute, are optimistic about the idea.
“Every single time someone goes to a private testing facility, well, that’s one less person that’s waiting in line in one of those public facilities. It helps reduce the waiting lists in both sectors,” he said.
“And again, the earlier we can catch a disease, the earlier we can catch a condition, the earlier it can be treated, the less expensive, the less costly it is to treat, and the less the patient suffers, of course.”
Parks disagrees. He said the biggest bottleneck in Alberta’s diagnostic system isn’t a shortage of machines, but a shortage of skilled technologists.
He said that if the government expands private pay imaging, those techs will be drawn to better-paying, nine-to-five private jobs instead of working nights and weekends in hospitals.
“Right now, we can’t get techs to work in our hospitals because it’s more difficult work, it’s after hours, it’s weekends,” Parks said. “As soon as government opens this up for private pay ultrasounds, as an example, all of our techs will be gone.”
Alberta already has a split for MRIs, he said, and it’s a “perfect example of where there is inequity.”
“Private pay access to MRI is measured in days in Alberta … It’s measured in months to years in the public pay system right now,” Parks said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for LaGrange said new workers “constantly come to Alberta and graduate from training programs.”
“When we fund a new publicly funded hospital or add to the budget to pay more family physicians, they create new jobs for staff, and over time the workforce expands and fills those jobs,” the statement reads.
“Of course, there are shortages; all growth increases demand for workers, which sometimes cannot be met immediately. This applies equally to growth in the public and private sectors.
“The idea that new jobs in the private sector ‘steal’ workers from a fixed pool and leave no one to work in public facilities is a nonsense talking point for ideological opponents of any private service.”
Dr. Eddy Lang, an ER doctor with the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, said theoretically, this move could create more jobs and boost the bottom line for companies that do this work.
“But don’t tell me that you’re going to prevent hospitalizations and cancers down the road by offering this service. That is only true in a very, very select number of conditions,” he said.
Lang said while full-body CT or MRI scans may sound appealing, they often uncover harmless, incidental things or “incidentalomas” — abnormalities that would never have caused problems if left undiscovered.
Once detected, though, patients can end up in a cycle of unnecessary followup scans, biopsies, and anxiety, he said.
“So I can understand the financial incentive, but I really am concerned about the scientific basis for opening up and making access to preventative screening tests and scans and MRIs a free-for-all. I think that could be very dangerous.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for LaGrange said that many Albertans only see a doctor once a problem arises, by which point some conditions may be harder to treat or detect. Therefore, increasing access to preventative testing can catch issues earlier and improve health outcomes.
“We disagree that this will create more backlogs. Greater control over preventative health screening can save and improve lives,” the statement reads.
Patients caught in long waits, meanwhile, are watching closely. Isabelle Cliche, a 47-year-old Calgary mother of three with debilitating hand pain, said she’s booked for an MRI in August 2027.
“Just think about everything that you need your hands for, right? Like, holding a book or just turning the page,” Cliche said.
The province said it will consult stakeholders on the changes and outline legislative and policy amendments needed to expand preventive screening options, with updates expected in the first half of 2026.
