This article supplied by Troy Media.

By Michel Gagnon and Krystle Wittevrongel

Alberta’s shift to activity-based hospital funding could be the blueprint other provinces need to fix Canada’s ailing health-care system

Canada’s health-care system is broken, and most Canadians have given up hope it will improve. Delayed surgeries, overcrowded emergency rooms and long wait times have become the norm. But in Alberta, there is finally a reason to believe change is possible.

The Smith government has announced plans to overhaul hospital funding by introducing activity-based funding, a model where hospitals are paid based on the number and type of treatments they provide, rather than receiving a fixed annual lump sum.

Currently, Alberta uses global budgets: hospitals receive a set amount each year, usually based on the previous year’s volume, regardless of how many patients they end up treating. This rigid funding model limits hospitals’ ability to respond to growing demand and discourages efficiency. It’s a little like only stocking two lifejackets on a boat because two people fell in the water last time around. Under this system, patients become a financial burden, creating an incentive to ration care.

The Montreal Economic Institute has advocated for change since 2012. About a year ago, we urged Alberta to abandon global budgeting in favour of a model that lets money follow the patient. Activity-based funding does just that, rewarding hospitals for providing timely, efficient care rather than merely staying afloat within a fixed budget.

Other countries with universal health care have already embraced this approach. Canada remains a notable outlier among OECD nations. Australia adopted activity-based funding 30 years ago. Within a year, care volumes rose and wait times dropped by 16 per cent. Today, this model accounts for 87 per cent of hospital funding in Australia. In 2022, the median wait time for hip replacement surgery was 232 days in Alberta, compared to 175 days in Australia. Importantly, countries such as Australia and Sweden maintained universal access to care while adopting this system.

Closer to home, Quebec’s gradual shift to activity-based funding has also yielded encouraging results. After the province applied the change to MRIs, costs fell by four per cent and procedures increased by 22 per cent. In radiology and oncology, costs dropped by seven per cent while productivity rose by 26 per cent. Quebec now aims for full adoption by 2027-28, showing that meaningful change is possible within our public system.

These examples show that a better way is possible. Yet most provinces remain stuck in outdated funding models that reward bureaucracy over patient care. If Alberta and Quebec can move forward, so can others. The case for action is national, not just provincial.

Of course, no funding model is without its flaws. That’s why Alberta is taking a phased approach, beginning with a pilot program and consultations to make sure the system fits the province’s needs before the full rollout in 2026. The good news is Alberta doesn’t have to start from scratch. Countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Australia have already faced—and overcome—common challenges such as gaming the coding system (inflating or misclassifying treatments to receive higher payments) or favouring quantity over quality. With the right safeguards in place, hospitals can stay focused on delivering care, not just managing budgets.

Alberta’s move to activity-based funding gives patients something rare in Canadian health care: a real reason to hope for better. But this  opportunity shouldn’t be limited to one province. With its thoughtful approach and clear commitment to reform, Alberta is offering the rest of Canada a blueprint for fixing what’s broken. Other provinces should take notice—and follow its lead.

Michel Kelly-Gagnon is founding president, and Krystle Wittevrongel is director of research at the Montreal Economic Institute, a think-tank with offices in Montreal Ottawa and Calgary.

Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country

This article supplied by Troy Media.

By Science and Technology Desk

New study finds billions more trees than expected, making boreal forests a bigger carbon sink than we thought

Canada’s boreal forests may be far more resilient to climate change than previously believed, with new research showing they contain billions more trees than past estimates, potentially boosting Canada’s natural defences in the fight against global warming.

Spanning from Yukon to Newfoundland, the boreal forest is one of the largest intact ecosystems in the world. It plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide, protecting biodiversity and supporting Indigenous and rural communities.

A new University of Alberta study provided the most accurate estimate to date of how many trees populate the boreal region, reducing long-standing uncertainties in forest carbon modelling and management.

The result: 277 billion trees across the boreal zone, including 30 billion in Alberta—31 per cent more than estimated in a major 2015 global study.

“Our research provides by far the most accurate and credible answer to the question of how many trees are in our boreal forests,” said study lead Fangliang He, a forest ecologist and Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and Landscape Modelling.

“Knowing that there are 31 per cent more trees than previously estimated suggests our boreal forests have greater capacity to mitigate climate change.”
Tree counts like this help scientists and policymakers understand how much carbon forests can absorb and store, critical for estimating how large a role boreal ecosystems can play in national emissions strategies.

To improve on the earlier global estimate, He’s team compiled data from a record 4,367 tree plots across Canada and Alaska, compared with just 346 used in the 2015 study.

“This provides a large set of data with extensive geographic coverage in North America,” He said.

To measure trees 10 centimetres or larger in diameter—the same threshold used in the 2015 analysis—He and his team used an artificial intelligence algorithm to develop competition-based models that included tree height, a key indicator of forest competition. The use of AI allowed the researchers to detect patterns that traditional methods might miss.

“These innovative models represent a major advance in improving the accuracy of estimating tree count.”

The researchers also projected future tree density under a range of climate scenarios to see how the boreal forest might respond to a warming planet. The findings were surprising: under increasingly warmer conditions, tree density in the boreal forest would rise overall by at least 11 per cent by 2050.

“This result suggests that boreal forests might be more resilient to climate change than we thought,” He said.

The study, he added, underscores the need for better data and forecasting tools to support forest management and climate policy.

While the federal government has pledged to plant two billion trees by 2030, He said that effort is nowhere near enough.

“That number only accounts for 0.83 per cent of our estimated total number of 240 billion boreal trees in Canada, speaking to the mitigation challenge through tree-planting,” he said.

At current planting rates, he said, it would take centuries to match the natural regeneration and density needed to make a measurable impact.

“Protection of natural forests is the best nature-based solution.”

The study contributes to a growing body of research using artificial intelligence to model complex ecological systems, and could influence Canada’s future forestry and climate strategies.

Science and Technology Desk

Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country