The Alberta government is working on enabling legislation and regulations for Bill 11, which received Royal Assent in late 2025 and has now announced an effective date of October 1, 2026 .
This will affect all employers with employees in the province of Alberta that are covered by benefit plans. There are primarily 2 areas that affects how benefits are deliver.
- “Payor of Last Resort”: This changes the provincial “pharamacare” solution (called Non-Group), that many use to protect from high cost drugs. After October 1st, the provincial public Non-Group health plan only pays after all private coverage is applied, making employer workplace benefits, and individual insurance plans, the primary payer for drug and some supplemental health claims.
- Elimination of Benefit Termination of drugs due to age: This change means group benefits plans can not reduce, terminate, or modify prescription drug and supplemental health coverage for active employees simply because they turn 65.
The vast majority of our clients are situated and employed Ontario, but we do not see the provinces your employees live in, so it may be applicable (especially with remote work).
If you have Alberta employees on your benefit plan we may have to make changes to comply with the law . Please alert us ASAP
https://www.alberta.ca/supporting-a-world-class-health-care-system
