Standing in the lobby of Foothills Medical Centre on a crisp November morning, I watch as Janet Kwan, a respiratory therapist of 17 years, breaks into a smile between sips of coffee. “The vote doesn’t erase the last two years, but it gives us some breathing room,” she tells me, her eyes crinkling above her mask. “And breathing is something I know a little about.”
Janet is one of roughly 27,000 Alberta health-care workers who just voted to ratify a new collective agreement with Alberta Health Services. The deal ends nearly two years of contentious negotiations that had left many front-line workers feeling undervalued during a period when their services were needed more than ever.
The agreement, approved by 68 percent of voting members, includes a 12 percent wage increase over four years. It represents the first substantial pay adjustment since 2018 for members of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), which represents laboratory technologists, paramedics, respiratory therapists, and over a hundred other health professions.
“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got what we needed to move forward,” says Mike Parker, president of HSAA, when I reach him by phone. The union had initially sought higher increases, citing years of wage freezes and the extraordinary pressures placed on health workers during the pandemic.
Across the gleaming hallways of Alberta’s hospitals, the sentiment among workers seems cautiously optimistic. Many describe feeling relief rather than jubilation.
“It’s like when you’ve been holding your breath underwater for too long,” explains Rohan Singh, a medical laboratory technologist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. “You’re not celebrating when you finally come up for air—you’re just grateful to be breathing again.”
For Singh and many of his colleagues, the wage increase helps offset Alberta’s rising cost of living, which has climbed approximately 18 percent since their last substantial raise in 2018, according to data from Statistics Canada.
The agreement also includes improvements to scheduling provisions and educational allowances, which many health-care professionals rely on to maintain their certifications and specialized skills.
The path to this agreement was notably rocky. Negotiations began in late 2023, stretching through multiple phases of mediation. At several points, job action seemed imminent, with 97 percent of members voting in favor of strike authorization last summer.
Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping calls the ratified agreement “fair and sustainable,” noting that it balances competitive compensation with the province’s fiscal realities. The province projects the deal will cost approximately $386 million over its four-year term.
“Healthcare workers are the backbone of our system,” Copping stated in a press release. “This agreement recognizes their vital contributions while ensuring we can continue investing in health-care improvements across the province.”
But beneath the official statements lies a more complex reality. Walking through the diagnostic imaging department at Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, I speak with Sofia Menendez, a veteran radiological technologist who describes the toll of the prolonged negotiations.
“We’ve lost good people,” she says quietly, adjusting her ponytail. “Some left for B.C. or Ontario where wages were higher. Others just couldn’t handle the pressure anymore—the mandatory overtime, the constant staff shortages.”
Indeed, a 2024 survey by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions found that Alberta had the third-highest health-care worker vacancy rate in Canada, with particular challenges in rural areas where staffing shortages have forced temporary closures of emergency departments and other services.
Dr. Verna Yiu, former president and CEO of Alberta Health Services, notes that the agreement comes at a critical juncture. “Stabilizing the workforce has to be priority one,” she explains during our conversation. “Without enough trained professionals, all other health initiatives become much harder to implement.”
The new contract may help address some retention issues, but recruitment challenges remain. Alberta’s universities currently cannot produce enough graduates in certain health disciplines to meet provincial demands. Meanwhile, immigration pathways for internationally trained health professionals remain complex and often slow.
For front-line workers like Janet Kwan, the ratification represents a step toward normalcy after years of extraordinary strain.
“During COVID, people called us heroes, but heroes don’t need fair wages, apparently,” she says with a wry smile. “I’d rather be treated like a professional than a superhero.”
As our conversation ends, Janet’s pager sounds. She checks it, drains her coffee, and heads back toward the intensive care unit. The morning shift change is underway, and somewhere upstairs, a patient is having trouble breathing.
The new contract has been signed, but the work—as always—continues.
