Following months of collaboration between the province and the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), the province is poised to launch its new physician compensation model beginning in April.
The new model which will cover primary care physicians in the province will go into effect on April 1 and already has nearly 800 registered to participate in the program.
Alberta announced the new funding model in December 2024 with the province putting in a requirement that 500 physicians be enrolled before the program officially launched.
"Implementing the new primary care physician compensation model is an exciting milestone in our journey to strengthen Alberta’s primary health care system," said Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.
According to the release announcing the launch, physicians under the plan will be "competitively paid while promoting patient-focused care.
Physicians under the panel will be eligible for incentives by maintaining patient panels of 500 or more patients, providing after-hours care to ease the pressure on emergency departments and urgent care centres, working in team-based care with other physicians, nurse practitioners, dieticians, and pharmacists, and adding efficiencies to clinical operations.
"This new model will strengthen comprehensive, cradle-to-grave primary care," said Dr. Shelley Duggan, AMA president. "These practices are the foundation of our health care system. The model will help us to retain the family medicine specialists and rural generalists we already have and will go a long way toward attracting more to Alberta.”
In addition to the change in physician compensation, the province has also announced changes to its International Medical Graduate Program (AIMG).
The change is made to help those studying medicine abroad to complete their residency in Alberta with positions at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
Previously, those being considered for the AIMG program were required to complete an externship assessment before beginning residency. With the change, the externship assessment has been dropped and residents can begin right after graduation.
The 2026 application period for AIMG will run from May 1 to May 30, 2025; applicants will be considered eligible if the graduate by July 1, 2026, which is a second change to the program.
Previously, applicants would have been required to graduate by Dec. 31, 2025, to be considered for residency.
Alberta's 2025 budget is providing $66.3 million for postgraduate medical programs, including $2.3 million for AIMG.
While AIMG had 55 seats in 2025, the plan is to expand the residency program to 70 by 2028.
