Alberta has cut access to health care for some foreign workers, raising concerns in the Bow Valley
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Javiera Sepulveda moved to Canada on a working holiday visa and would have been eligible for provincial health coverage under Alberta’s previous rules. But a quiet policy change denied her access to care.
She moved to Banff from Chile in October, where she now works as a housekeeper at a local hotel.
based on informationWorking Alberta Health websiteAfter working in the province for three months, Sepulveda was eligible for provincial coverage in early January. she t wento Banff Registry to apply at that time.
A few days later, registry staff called him and told him he was no longer eligible.
“I was stunned because they had all these requirements on the website and I was meeting them all,” she said.
The change means people with International Experience Canada (IEC) Type 58 work permits, including working holiday and youth professional visa holders, are no longer eligible for Alberta’s public health system.
The move is causing particular concern in the Bow Valley, where tourism businesses rely heavily on international workers to fill jobs in hotels, restaurants and other service industries.
In a statement to CBC News, Alberta’s Ministry of Primary and Preventive Health Services confirmed the change will take effect Jan. 7, 2026.
The ministry says the federal government requires private insurance for these workers, and so it says providing public health care “is deemed unnecessary and has been discontinued.”
University of Ottawa professor Yin-Yuan Chen, who studies immigration and health law, says public health care and private health care insurance serve very different purposes.
“TeaThe federal government’s requirements for private health insurance are not as comprehensive a form of health care coverage as provincial health insurance is,” he says.
Chen says there is a difference in the types of coverage provided by private insurance and public health care, “and that difference has real consequences for people.”
Sepulveda is experiencing this already.
He hurt his neck a few weeks ago and the pain still persists. Normally, she would have gone to the doctor, but she says the issue is not a medical emergency, so it is not covered through her private travel insurance.
“I know I probably need an X-ray or something, but it’s just too expensive right now,” she says.
You have to communicate with people and have respect for people.– James Neal-Tadman, Bow Valley resident
Natasha Le of the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership says workers are worried about losing access to routine and preventive care, services. Essential for both individual and community health.
She also emphasizes how essential foreign workers are to sustaining tourism cities in the region.
He estimates that hundreds of people are currently on temporary work visas in the valley. According to the 2021 federal census, nearly one in three Bow Valley residents was born outside Canada.
Alberta policy raises economic and ethical questions
Chen says that under the Canada Health Act, provinces must provide publicly funded health care, but each province sets eligibility requirements.
Alberta is now an outlying province in the Western Province. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba all confirmed to CBC News that Type 58 visa holders are eligible for public health coverage in their provinces.
Chen says this policy change could have economic consequences as temporary residents may move to other provinces that cover health care.
He also raised ethical concerns about not providing health care to residents who are paying into the public health care system through taxes.
This is what troubles James Neal-Tadman.
“I’m living here, I’m working here and I’m paying into the public health system, and they’re not giving us any level of access unless we pay for it completely upfront,” says the UK national, who has been living in the Bow Valley on a working holiday visa since 2023.
He’s had access to Alberta health care for years, but was turned down when he went to renew his health card a few weeks ago.
What’s worse, Neal-Tadman says, is that foreign workers were given no time to prepare for the change.
“You have to communicate with people and have respect for people,” he says.
Le agrees that the lack of public information has caused a lot of stress and anxiety for people on these visas.
She’s calling on the province to provide clearer public information, especially as the Banff region prepares for a summer tourism surge.
“What we do know is that there will be more international workers arriving soon to fill some essential roles for the summer, so clarity around health care is very important,” she says.
