It’s been a momentous week in Alberta—especially in Edmonton—for matters both theatrical and not. And you haven’t heard from me in a minute, so let me catch you up.

Now we know what at least one health care body is paying per hour to private for-profit staffing agencies. Jeremy Appel has an exclusive story for the Progress Report that we just published that reveals what Covenant Care is paying per hour for staffing agency registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and even health-care aides (HCAs).

Covenant Health is spending nearly $110 an hour per nurse to obtain registered nurses from private, for-profit staffing agencies, more than double the hourly wages of unionized nurses earning the highest possible hourly wage, according to figures provided by the province’s Catholic health-care body.

If you’re not a monthly patron to the Progress Report yet, we get it. Finances are tight, one red pepper is worth approximately $17 dollars and yet Galen Weston is still just walking through the streets mostly unmolested. 

Position: Director of Operations

One out of every five contracts Alberta Health Services (AHS) awarded to private nursing agencies over the past two-and-a-half years sent contract nurses to health-care facilities in the Calgary and Edmonton areas, according to documents obtained through a freedom of information request.

Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Chief Dale McFee called for restrictions on immigration multiple times, saying that “when one more is added, there’s more risk,” in a recent podcast appearance. 

Between April 2021 and April 2024 Alberta Health Services increased spending on private for-profit staffing agencies from just over $5 million a year to more than $154 million a year, an increase of roughly 3,000 per cent, according to documents obtained through a freedom of information request. 

The much rumoured appointment is finally real. Former prime minister Stephen Harper is now the chair of AIMCo. 

A man diametrically opposed to the concept of defined pension benefit plans for public sector workers is now the chair of an organization responsible for managing the investments of 375,000 Alberta pensioners. I don’t want to belabour the discussion around Stephen Harper too much but the man’s history is relevant. He built a political career campaigning against pensions. He refused to expand Canada Pension Plan benefits while Prime Minister and he pushed the age for receiving Old Age Security benefits from 65 to 67. 

The use of private for-profit nursing or staffing agencies is rising dramatically, warns a study from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU).