Alberta seeing record-high family physicians, still in need of more

A new survey shows 45 per cent of Canadians are without a family doctor. CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg has more.

A recent report from the Angus Reid Institute found that Alberta has fewer family physicians per capita than it did in 2015, while every other province, besides Ontario, has more doctors per patient than it did a decade ago.

But the Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services says the number of primary care providers accepting new patients reached a four-year high.

A quarter four report from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) said there were 13,008 physicians registered in the province at the end of 2025, reflecting an increase of 796 from the same period in 2024.

“Calgary and Edmonton have seen the most dramatic gains, with providers accepting new patients increasing by more than 400 per cent and 180 per cent, respectively,” said a statement from the ministry.

That equates to 251 providers accepting patients in Calgary and 89 in Edmonton.

“Alberta’s exceptional population growth over the past two years has slightly skewed the crude per capita count, but that figure is misleading; it does not represent the actual workforce or access for patients.”

Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information says 83.8 per cent of adults in Alberta reported having access to a regular health-care provider, slightly higher than the national average of 82.6 per cent.

But 31 per cent of Albertans have found it difficult to access their current doctor, according to the Angus Reid report.

Emergency physician Louis Francescutti said his latest experience with his own family doctor was “great.”

“There are some very good things going on, but we have to sit back and have a crucial conversation about the things that are not going so well,” Francescutti told CTV News Edmonton.

He said many young family physicians are not interested in cradle-to-grave medicine anymore, and are pursuing specialized fields of medicine.

“You want to set up these community health centres that are run by the government, that are staffed by the government, of which the physician is just part of the team,” said Francescutti. “What happens is those community health centres make it very easy for patients to access (health care).”

The province launched a Primary Care Physician Compensation Model last spring in hopes of increasing recruitment and retention.

Rather than compensating doctors by volume of patients, the model looks at time, patient complexity and rostering.

“Alberta needs more family physicians,” said the ministry. “Alberta’s physician workforce has steadily increased, and we remain focused on recruitment.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Lampa