Alberta is allocating $39 million over three years to purchase land for nine new urgent care centres, expanding access to care beyond the Calgary region.
The expansion will increase the province’s urgent care network from six facilities—five in the Calgary region and one in Edmonton—to 15, Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services Adriana LaGrange told reporters at a Nov. 9 press conference in Sylvan Lake. The additional centres are expected to increase total capacity by 150 per cent, according to the province.
The $39 million allocation from Budget 2026 will target high-growth communities in a bid to help reduce travel times and relieve pressure on crowded emergency rooms.
The centres are planned for west and south Edmonton, the Stony Plain-Spruce Grove area, east Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Cold Lake, Fort McMurray, and Sylvan Lake.
Once operational, the nine centres are expected to redirect as many as 300,000 annual visits away from hospital emergency departments, which see more than 2 million visits each year, LaGrange said.
“Thousands of Albertans are waiting in hospital emergency rooms for care they could receive at an urgent care centre if one were available nearby,” she said. “By giving families more options for same day treatment, we can reduce pressure on our emergency departments and free up hospital teams to focus on patients with the most serious illnesses and injuries.”
Acute Care Alberta interim CEO Dr. Sayeh Zielke told reporters approximately one-third of patients waiting in ERs are there for non-life-threatening conditions that urgent care centres are designed to handle.
Urgent care centres provide walk-in access for unexpected, non-life-threatening health concerns that require same-day treatment like broken bones, cuts in need of stitches, asthma attacks, “or an unexpected illness that can’t wait for a family doctor,” Zielke said.
“It also frees up emergency department staff and spaces to focus on the sickest patients, including those with heart attacks, strokes, and serious injuries,” she said.
LaGrange said the province is aiming to get “shovels in the ground next year.” The goal is for the facilities to be operational within three years of construction starting, though the timeline will depend on finalizing land acquisitions.
“A lot depends on infrastructure and how quickly we can build as well, and get the materials to build and the labour force,” she added.
The province set aside $17 million in March 2025 for eight urgent care locations, selected according to local hospital demand and population forecasts. Sylvan Lake was absent from the original list but was added as a ninth location in this week’s announcement.
The province says an urgent care centre in Alberta provides care to approximately 30,000 patients annually.
