March 16, 2026
Waterloo City Hall
Members and allies of the Waterloo Region Health Coalition braved the cold, drizzle and wind to call for the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act.
The group called attention to the Alberta’s Bill 11 The Health Statutes Amendment Act passed last December. This legislation creates a “two-tier” system, drains staff from the public system, and violates the Canada Health Act by incentivizing private, for-profit health care.
Jim Stewart, chair, also outlined the Ontario government’s significant expansion of private, for-profit clinics which now perform OHIP-covered procedures like cataract surgeries, MRI and CT scans, and hip and knee replacements. The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) has documented numerous cases of patients being charged for “medically necessary” care.
The Waterloo Region Health Coalition is calling on the federal government to:
- Tell Alberta’s Danielle Smith government that its health care privatization scheme contravenes the Canada Health Act and they will face a dollar-for-dollar clawback of federal health care funding if they proceed.
- Require that Ontario stop private clinics from charging patients for medically needed care. The Canada Health Act prohibits user fees and extra-billing of patients, including direct and indirect charges. Thus, no private clinic can require payment for medically unnecessary things (such as extra lenses that do not have anything to do with cataracts) in order to get the medically needed service (such as cataract surgery). Selling queue-jumping for those who have the thousands of dollars available to pay contravenes the requirement that all Canadians have access to health care based on medical need not wealth.
- Ensure trade protections for publicly funded healthcare still cover the rest of Canada, even if Alberta violates the law. If Alberta keeps pushing for-profit care, it could open the door for U.S. insurance companies to take over publicly funded healthcare across Canada.
For more information visit:
The Waterloo Region Health Coalition The Ontario Health Coalition
