Advancing children’s health care

Province puts $2M toward Alberta Children’s Hospital expansion, research centre plans.

The Alberta government is investing $2 million to plan an expanded inpatient tower at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, a project expected to add beds and increase capacity for pediatric care in Calgary and across the province.

The funding will support planning for the tower expansion, which aims to increase inpatient capacity and strengthen access to specialized care for children as demand grows.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation is matching the province’s investment with an additional $2 million to support planning for a new Centre for Research & Innovative Care, a research and innovation hub that would integrate clinical care with research and help advance precision medicine.

“Expanding Alberta Children’s Hospital ensures Alberta children have access to the care they need, improves outcomes, and supports healthier, brighter futures for families across the province,” said Matt Jones, Alberta’s minister of hospital and surgical health services.

Myles McDougall, the minister of advanced education, said the research centre would help attract top talent and support the next generation of specialists.

“This initiative will make Alberta a destination point for even more world-leading researchers and create a robust training and career pipeline hub for the next generation of child health scientists, specialists, and innovators,” McDougall said.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital currently has 141 acute care inpatient beds and 12 inpatient mental health beds. Once complete, the expansion is expected to add 40 acute care beds and 10 mental health beds, increasing overall capacity by about 32 per cent.

Rick Wilson, Alberta’s minister of mental health and addiction, said the investment will help strengthen services for young people facing mental health challenges.

“Our children are our future and their mental health is a priority for our government,” Wilson said.

Planning is already underway. The business and functional planning phase for the inpatient tower expansion began in September 2025, the province said.

The Centre for Research & Innovative Care is being developed in partnership with Alberta Health Services, the Alberta Children’s Hospital, the University of Calgary and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Martin Long, the minister of infrastructure, said the projects reflect a broader push to build health capacity for a growing population.

“Investing in modern, purpose-built health infrastructure is essential to meeting the needs of Alberta’s growing youth population,” Long said.

Saifa Koonar, president and CEO of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, said the centre is part of a long-term vision to strengthen pediatric care through innovation.

“The centre will unite clinicians and researchers, saving and improving more children's lives through innovation,” Koonar said.

The province said the planning phase for the bed expansion will establish construction timelines and that no disruptions to services or patients are expected during this stage.

The Alberta Children’s Hospital is one of the largest children’s hospitals in the prairie provinces. More than 75,000 children are treated in its emergency department each year, and the facility performs more than 10,000 surgeries annually, about 20 per cent of them on an emergency basis.

The hospital provides care to more than 100,000 children and their families each year, and demand for specialized pediatric services continues to rise.

The Calgary corridor’s population is about 1.9 million and is projected to grow by more than 500,000 by 2038. In 2024, about 21 per cent of the population in the corridor was under 18, underscoring the need for expanded pediatric health services.