AB lost over 350 physician registrations last quarter

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta recently released their first quarter Physician Resources in Alberta update for 2026.

According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, there were 12,992 registered physicians at the end of March 2026. That’s a net decrease of 16 over the previous quarter and a net increase of 869 over the same period in 2025.

This is the first decline in registrations since the first quarter of 2025.

Of the 18 communities listed in their report, all but 6 saw an increase in the number of registered physicians.

Calgary lost the most registrations, at 19, followed by Red Deer, at 11. Fort McMurray lost 2, and Medicine Hat, Spruce Grove, and Wetaskiwin each lost 1 registration. There were 15 fewer registations in what the CPSA called “other locations”.

Airdrie had the largest net increase, at 8. Edmonton and St. Alberta were tied for the second highest, at 6, followed by Grande Prairie, at 4.

That quarterly net decrease of 16 was a result of 339 new registrations and 355 cancellations:

Of the new registrations, 12 were for physicians who returned to Alberta and 252 who were trained outside of Alberta. When we compare that with the 6 who left Alberta, we get a net migration of 255 physicians into the province. Remember, that is for registrations. Theoretically, a doctor could leave Alberta but maintain their registration in the province.

The numbers reflect the physicians who maintained an active licence within the applicable quarter; it cannot be interpreted as those who are actively practising. . . . These counts do not necessarily reflect physicians’ functional area of practice, or even if they have an active clinical practice.

“Methodology”. Physician Resources in Alberta Quarterly Update: Oct 01, 2020 to Dec 30, 2021, pp. 1,3.

Let’s look at the registration numbers over the last 9 years or so (I couldn’t find any CPSA data beyond 2016):

Quarter	Number	Change
Jan–Mar 2026	12,992	-0.12%
Oct–Dec 2025	13,008	1.87%
Jul–Sep 2025	12,769	3.59%
Apr–Jun 2025	12,327	1.68%
Jan–Mar 2025	12,123	-0.73%
Oct–Dec 2024	12,212	0.71%
Jul–Sep 2024	12,126	3.15%
Apr–Jun 2024	11,756	1.07%
Jan–Mar 2024	11,632	-0.9%
Oct–Dec 2023	11,738	1.1%
Jul–Sep 2023	11,608	3.1%
Apr–Jun 2023	11,260	1.2%
Jan–Mar 2023	11,132	-2.4%
Oct–Dec 2022	11,407	0.5%
Jul–Sep 2022	11,346	2.5%
Apr–Jun 2022	11,069	0.9%
Jan–Mar 2022	10,965	-1.7%
Oct–Dec 2021	11,153	-0.1%
Jul–Sep 2021	11,167	2.2%
Apr–Jun 2021	10,927	0.6%
Jan–Mar 2021	10,866	-2.3%
Oct–Dec 2020	11,120	-0.3%
Jul–Sep 2020	11,152	2.3%
Apr–Jun 2020	10,905	0.9%
Jan–Mar 2020	10,812	-1.2%
Oct–Dec 2019	10,948	0.4%
Jul–Sep 2019	10,906	2.9%
Apr–Jun 2019	10,599	0.8%
Jan–Mar 2019	10,519	-1.5%
Oct–Dec 2018	10,674	0.4%
Jul–Sep 2018	10,630	2.7%
Apr–Jun 2018	10,351	0.7%
Jan–Mar 2018	10,274	-1.0%
Oct–Dec 2017	10,376	0.0%
Jul–Sep 2017	10,379	2.9%
Apr–Jun 2017	10,088	1.0%
Jan–Mar 2017	9,991	-0.6%
Oct–Dec 2016	10,048	0.0%
Jul–Sep 2016	10,043	3.4%
Apr–Jun 2016	9,713	1.2%
Jan–Mar 2016	9,596	-1.2%

Let’s look at all the first quarters together. First, we’ll compare first quarter registrations to fourth quarter registrations.

The first quarter always sees a reduction in the number of registrations. This year’s first quarter reduction was the smallest reduction in the last decade.

And here are the 11 first quarters with how much they’ve changed from the previous first quarter.

Physician registrations in the first quarter this year were the best we’ve seen since 2016, breaking the previous record, which was set in, well, 2016. Oddly enough, our lowest first quarter increase was in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the first quarter of 2019, the last quarter before the UCP took power, Alberta physician registrations have grown by 2,473, or 23.51%.

By comparison, Alberta saw a net increase of 1,513 physician registration under the NDP. That’s an increase of 16.52%, and that was over just 4 years; the UCP have now been in power for over 6 years.

Before we get too excited, we should keep in mind that while the number of physician registrations has indeed increased, so has the overall population. Comparing the registration increase with the population increase can help us determine whether the number of registrations is keeping up with—or even exceeding—the population, which could lead to improved access to medical care.

In the first quarter of 2019, just before the UCP took power, Alberta had 4,324,254 residents and 10,519 registered physicians, leaving us with 1 physician for every 411.09 residents.

At the end of March 2026, there were 5,048,151 residents and 12,992 physicians. That’s 1 physician for every 388.56 residents, an improvement.

This is the best first quarter ratio we’ve seen, as demonstrated in the chart below. In fact, this is the second best ratio we have seen in any quarter since at least 2016.

Keep in mind that these are all physicians, including specialists. So, while the number of registered doctors might have increased recently, that doesn’t mean access to acute care has improved.

More on that in a moment.

Now, how do these registration break down by where they came from and where they went to?

Well, 26 of the 339 new registrations were from people trained in the province, compared to 28 in the first quarter of 2025. 252 were new registrations from outside Alberta and 48 were “restored”. In 2025, those numbers were 194 and 55, respectively, in the first quarter.

There were 12 registrations for physicians who returned to Alberta, compared to 22 in 2025. However, 9 of the 355 cancelled registrations were from physicians who left the province, as I pointed out earlier, leaving a net migration gain of 255 physicians when added to the 252 registrations from physicians trained from outside Alberta.

Of the remaining 315 cancellations, 93 physicians retired and 0 died, compared to 113 and 2 in 2025. As well, there were 201 removed registrations. This number was 191 in the fourth quarter of 2025. This year’s number break down even further to:

• Did not renew permit: 87
• Registered but not in independent practice: 111
• Locum ended: 2
• Struck/removed: 1

Finally, 52 physicians voluntarily erased their registrations. During the first quarter of 2025, 49 did so.

Oh, and I just want to point out that out of those 12,992 registered physicians, only 5,982 are registered in family medicine. That’s a jump of 15 from the 5,967 we saw in the previous quarter.

With that increase comes an improvement in the per capita coverage of family doctors. We had 1 registered family doctor per 843.89 residents in the first quarter of 2026, down from 844.79 patients in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 1,127.29 patients in the first quarter of 2025.

Keep in mind that last year, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta designated all family medicine physicians and general practitioners, who were previously identified as non-specialists, as specialists in family medicine to better align with the services they provide and to make Alberta consistent with other Canadian jurisdictions.

A significant improvement in that ratio was because of a change in classification, not because of a massive increase in the number of people who are actually practicing family medicine.

We will have to see how the ratio changes as time goes on and we have more data with the classification changes.

Oh, and one more thing: these registrations do not specify how many of the registered physicians are practicing in private care and how many of them are practicing in public care.