Settling in Alberta

Alberta's public plan is the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP), open to people legally entitled to be in Canada who make their permanent home in Alberta and will be present at least 183 days in any 12-month period.

Refugee claimants, refused claimants and people with expired immigration documents are not eligible for AHCIP.

Alberta has no waiting period for people arriving from outside Canada who apply in time: coverage can start on the date they establish residency.

To get coverage from the date of residency, the newcomer must apply within 3 months with all required documents; a later application gets a start date set when it is processed.

By contrast, people moving from another province or territory are covered from the first day of the third month after establishing residency.

A visitor record, work permit, study permit or permanent resident card or document can qualify a newcomer for coverage, and is taken to an Alberta registry office.

Temporary residents must establish residency, intend to live in Alberta at least 12 consecutive months, and hold an IRCC or CBSA document with at least 6 months left before it expires.

A work permit must name an Alberta employer with Alberta as the location, or be an open permit, and must not expire in less than 6 months.

A study permit qualifies with a letter from an Alberta institution confirming full-time attendance.

International students qualify with a 12-month Alberta study permit, or with a permit of more than 6 but less than 12 months plus an enrolment letter and intent to live in Alberta for at least 12 months.

International students under 17 must be registered by a parent, guardian or custodian.

A family member on a visitor record qualifies if the record shows the holder is the spouse, interdependent partner or dependant of an eligible resident.

Dependants on a family account include spouses and partners, single dependent children under 21, and single children under 25 in full-time studies.

A child who is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or holder of an acceptable study permit may be covered even when the parent (for example a refugee claimant) is not eligible.

A temporary resident's coverage ends on the expiry date of the Canada entry document, which is printed on the health card.

Applying for permanent residence does not by itself extend AHCIP coverage.

Applicants must prove Alberta residency, identity and legal entitlement to be in Canada.

Accepted proof of residency includes utility or phone bills and a mortgage or rental agreement, and accepted legal-status documents include a Canada entry document such as a work or study permit.

Any registry in Alberta takes AHCIP applications, processing can take up to 5 days, and the card is mailed to the applicant.

Registries do not hand out the health card; it is mailed by the AHCIP office.

Until a newcomer is eligible, Alberta recommends private health insurance.

Alberta advises buying travel or visitor-to-Canada insurance from a private insurer before coming to Canada.

Emergency care is not refused to uninsured people, but they may be billed for it.

A person living in Alberta permanently must exchange the current licence within 90 days of becoming a resident, even with travel during those 90 days.

Visitors can drive in Alberta on a valid home licence for up to one year, and an International Driver's Permit is strongly recommended if the licence is not in English.

Alberta says students, visitors and seasonal agricultural workers cannot get an Alberta licence because they do not live in Alberta permanently, though they may keep using their home licence.

Licences from Alberta-recognized jurisdictions are exchanged without a knowledge test or road test.

The recognized list (with the licence classes exchanged) is Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, the Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Japan, Denmark, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Ireland, South Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

United States licence holders can exchange class 5, 6 or 7 licences without testing.

Ukrainian licence holders can exchange a class B or BE licence without testing.

Exchanging a recognized licence requires surrendering all licences, proof of Alberta residence and proof of legal status in Canada, plus proof of 2 years of driving for a full Class 5.

Licences from other countries require a knowledge test, surrender of the licence and a road test.

Drivers from non-agreement countries can apply to the GDL Exemption Program to have previous driving history credited.

Exchanges are done by surrendering the licence to an Alberta registry agent.

Publicly funded education for children aged 5 to 19 is free, and children aged 6 to 16 must attend school.

Under Education Act section 3, a person aged 6 to 18 on September 1 who is a resident of Alberta and has a parent who is a resident of Canada is entitled to access an education program.

The Act defines a resident of Canada as someone lawfully entitled to be in Canada and living and ordinarily present here, and excludes tourists and visitors.

Boards may not charge tuition to resident students, but may charge tuition to a student who is not a resident student of any board.

For funding purposes, a resident student is someone entitled to access under section 3 of the Act, which ties free schooling to the section 3 test above.

For kindergarten (ECS) funding, a child counts if the child is a child of someone lawfully admitted to Canada as a permanent or temporary resident.

The Calgary Board of Education assesses the English of non-citizen students in Grades 1 to 12 who speak another language at home, and offers free interpretation.

The Opportunity Alberta guide is available in 15 languages.

The Alberta government funds organizations that help newcomers settle and that provide language training.

Alberta-funded settlement services are free to naturalized citizens, work permit holders and refugee claimants.

Alberta also funds settlement services in French for francophone newcomers.

The page points newcomers to the AAISA locator of settlement and language supports, with an interactive map.