Alberta
Doubling surgical capacity in Rocky Mountain House

Rural Albertans will be able to access surgeries quicker and closer to home now that the expansion and renovation of the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre is complete.
The Rocky Mountain House Health Centre has been providing residents with health care since 1971, including surgical services. Alberta Infrastructure has completed an addition to the facility, which includes a new operating room. This will enable approximately 120 Albertans per month to receive surgery, doubling the number of monthly surgeries. This additional, brand-new operating room is also expected to decrease the wait lists for surgeries.
The expanded Rocky Mountain House Health Centre provides an additional 440 square metres (4,736 square feet) and includes:
- a new operating room,
- 6 additional recovery beds,
- a patient support area, and
- an updated medical device reprocessing department.
The new spaces can be accessed from the existing site thanks to the addition of an upgraded hallway that connects the two buildings.
“Completing the expansion and renovation of the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre is a significant step forward in delivering Alberta Surgical Initiative projects province wide. This investment into health care infrastructure will increase surgical capacity, helping Albertans get treatment when and where they need it.”
The Rocky Mountain House Health Centre upgrade is part of the Alberta Surgical Initiative (ASI), which aims to enhance surgical capacity across the province by expanding and maximizing existing health care space. Over the next three years, the 2024 Capital Plan is providing $313 million for ASI projects throughout the province.
Alberta Infrastructure and Alberta Health Services share the responsibility for delivering ASI projects. Alberta Health Services leads the delivery of smaller projects, while Alberta Infrastructure delivers capital projects over $5 million.
“Albertans deserve timely access to surgeries, and they should be able to get them close to home. The expansion and renovation of the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre will increase its capacity so more Albertans can get the surgeries they need when they need them. Through the Alberta Surgical Initiative, we are improving access to surgical care and funding projects across the province, including in rural communities like Rocky Mountain House.”
Alberta Infrastructure is working on 20 ASI projects in communities across Alberta, including Brooks, Calgary, Camrose, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Innisfail, Lethbridge, Olds, Ponoka, St. Albert and Stettler. Lethbridge will be the next community to benefit from a completed ASI project. The expansion of two operating rooms and more surgical inpatient rooms at the Chinook Regional Hospital is anticipated to be completed later this fall.
“The expanded Rocky Mountain House Health Centre will help ensure more residents can access surgeries and receive the care they need in a timely manner. Investments like these in rural Alberta matter and I’d like to thank Minister Guthrie and Minister LaGrange for delivering on this project that will double our surgical capacity in Rocky Mountain House.”
Quick facts
- The total budget for the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre ASI project was $15 million.
- This Alberta Infrastructure project was completed on time and on budget. Approximately 85 construction-related jobs were created during the project.
- In addition to the new building, other renovations include new mechanical and electrical building systems.
- Alberta Infrastructure is managing other ASI projects at the following locations:
- Brooks Health Centre
- Calgary
- Alberta Children’s Hospital
- Foothills Medical Centre
- South Health Campus
- Camrose – St. Mary’s Hospital
- Edmonton
- Grey Nuns Community Hospital
- Misericordia Community Hospital
- Royal Alexandra Hospital
- Walter C. Mackenzie Centre (University of Alberta Hospital)
- Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital
- Innisfail Health Centre
- Lethbridge – Chinook Regional Hospital
- Olds Hospital and Care Centre
- Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre
- St. Albert – Sturgeon Community Hospital
- Stettler Hospital and Care Centre
- Other ASI projects completed by Alberta Infrastructure:
- Grande Prairie Regional Health Centre (completed in July 2022)
- University of Alberta (completed September 2023)
Alberta
Pierre Poilievre will run to represent Camrose, Stettler, Hanna, and Drumheller in Central Alberta by-election

From LifeSiteNews
Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat as an MP so Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat Monday, could attempt to re-join Parliament.
Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat in a riding that saw the Conservatives easily defeat the Liberals by 46,020 votes in this past Monday’s election. Poilievre had lost his seat to his Liberal rival, a seat which he held for decades, which many saw as putting his role as leader of the party in jeopardy.
Kurek has represented the riding since 2019 and said about his decision, “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the good people of Battle River—Crowfoot.”
“After much discussion with my wife Danielle, I have decided to step aside for this Parliamentary session to allow our Conservative Party Leader to run here in a by-election,” he added.
Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney used his first post-election press conference to say his government will unleash a “new economy” that will further “deepen” the nation’s ties to the world.
He also promised that he would “trigger” a by-election at once, saying there would be “no games” trying to prohibit Poilievre to run and win a seat in a safe Conservative riding.
Poilievre, in a statement posted to X Friday, said that it was with “humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.”
“Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise,” he noted.
“I will work to earn the trust of the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot and I will continue to hold the Liberal minority government to account until the next federal election, when we will bring real change to all Canadians.”
Carney said a new cabinet will be sworn in on May 12.
Alberta
‘Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America’

From the Canadian Energy Centre
By Will Gibson
Alberta oil sands projects poised to grow on lower costs, strong reserves
As geopolitical uncertainty ripples through global energy markets, a new report says Alberta’s oil sands sector is positioned to grow thanks to its lower costs.
Enverus Intelligence Research’s annual Oil Sands Play Fundamentals forecasts producers will boost output by 400,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) by the end of this decade through expansions of current operations.
“Existing oil sands projects deliver some of the lowest-breakeven oil in North America at WTI prices lower than $50 U.S. dollars,” said Trevor Rix, a director with the Calgary-based research firm, a subsidiary of Enverus which is headquartered in Texas with operations in Europe and Asia.
Alberta’s oil sands currently produce about 3.4 million bbls/d. Individual companies have disclosed combined proven reserves of about 30 billion barrels, or more than 20 years of current production.
A recent sector-wide reserves analysis by McDaniel & Associates found the oil sands holds about 167 billion barrels of reserves, compared to about 20 billion barrels in Texas.
While trade tensions and sustained oil price declines may marginally slow oil sands growth in the short term, most projects have already had significant capital invested and can withstand some volatility.
“While it takes a large amount of out-of-pocket capital to start an oil sands operation, they are very cost effective after that initial investment,” said veteran S&P Global analyst Kevin Birn.
“Optimization,” where companies tweak existing operations for more efficient output, has dominated oil sands growth for the past eight years, he said. These efforts have also resulted in lower cost structures.
“That’s largely shielded the oil sands from some of the inflationary costs we’ve seen in other upstream production,” Birn said.
Added pipeline capacity through expansion of the Trans Mountain system and Enbridge’s Mainline have added an incentive to expand production, Rix said.
The increased production will also spur growth in regions of western Canada, including the Montney and Duvernay, which Enverus analysts previously highlighted as increasingly crucial to meet rising worldwide energy demand.
“Increased oil sands production will see demand increase for condensate, which is used as diluent to ship bitumen by pipeline, which has positive implications for growth in drilling in liquids-rich regions such as the Montney and Duvernay,” Rix said.
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