When Bill 11 passed in December 2025, Alberta became the first province to legislate two-tier health care — a system that gives faster access to those who can pay and longer waits for those who can’t afford to jump the queue — for medically necessary services.
In their recent report, The End of Canadian Medicare? Alberta Legislation Opens the Door to U.S. Health Care, authors Andrew Longhurst (senior researcher, CCPA) and Rebecca Graff-McRae (research manager, Parkland Institute) outline how Bill 11 puts Canadian medicare at risk and opens the door for American health insurance corporations to enter the Canadian market. In this webinar, they will unpack the significant issues raised by the legislation, the evidence surrounding two-tier systems, and the potential risks for public healthcare in Alberta and Canada-wide.
This is a virtual event from 12pm-1pm MDT on Thursday, March 5. Please register through Eventbrite. The link for this Zoom event will be sent on the morning of the event to the email address provided while registering in Eventbrite.
Andrew Longhurst, B.A. (Hons), M.A., is a senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He is also a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University. His research has been published in academic journals and by research institutes, including Canadian Journal on Aging, Political Geography, the CCPA, and the Parkland Institute. His recent publications include Hollowed Out (CCPA, 2025), Operation Profit (Parkland Institute, 2025), and At What Cost? (CCPA, 2023). As an expert on health policy and finance, his commentaries appear regularly in news media across the country. Follow him on Bluesky at @alonghurst.bsky.social.
Rebecca Graff-McRae is research manager for Parkland Institute, where her areas of research include public health care, seniors’ care, and public services. She holds a PhD in Irish Politics from Queen’s University Belfast, and has previously held fellowships with the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s, Memorial University Newfoundland, and University College Cork. Rebecca has authored several research reports for Parkland, including Misdiagnosis: Privatization and Disruption in Alberta’s Medical Laboratory Services and Time to Care: Staffing and Workloads in Alberta’s Long-Term Care Facilities, and has been a longstanding contributor to the CCPA's Alternative Federal Budget. Her work has also been featured across local, provincial, and national news media.
