Alberta renews efforts to scrap paper health-care cards to integrate with driver's licences

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The Alberta government is renewing its efforts to scrap the province’s paper health-care cards and is now again considering adding personal health-care numbers to driver’s licences.

Premier Danielle Smith said on her Corus call-in radio show last weekend that the province was moving toward combining the two forms of identification.

“We are working right now on having an integrated driver’s licence with Alberta health-care cards,” she said Saturday, adding the integrated photo identification card would also be available for those without a driver’s licence.

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She said the integrated cards would be renewable every five years.

The paper cards have long been criticized as too fragile and vulnerable to fraud.

Smith told her radio audience that there were two million more Alberta health-care identification numbers than people in Alberta.

“Some of that is just people moving out, some of it is that people have passed on, and we haven’t deactivated the card, and some of it I don’t know,” Smith said.

The office of Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said in a statement it’s exploring opportunities to enhance Alberta’s driver’s licence and identification cards.

“No decision has been made on specific revisions at this time. Timelines and cost implications will be determined as we progress,” it said.

‘Enormous’ upgrades required

In 2019, the United Conservative Party pledged to combine health cards and driver’s licences, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to pause those efforts once in government.

“We need to make our motor vehicles registry systems able to talk to Alberta Health systems, and that sounds simple, but it actually requires an enormous amount of technology work and upgrades,” then-Service Alberta minister Nate Glubish told Postmedia in 2022.

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In Budget 2021, the government committed $600,000 in its capital plan to “add personal health numbers to driver’s licence(s) and identification card(s).”

Health-care cards give eligible Alberta residents access to medical services including physicians, hospital services, and medical labs.

Alberta has issued paper health-care cards since 1969 that list a name, birthdate, and personal health number but do not include a photo, address, expiry date, or modern security measures found on driver’s licences like raised numbers, laser engraving, or clear windows.

Manitoba was the only other province to use paper cards as of this year, though it is transitioning to plastic and digital health card options in 2025.

The Alberta government is also considering adding citizenship to driver’s licences to enhance election security — though voter fraud is rare in provincial elections, with nine confirmed cases among just under 6.5 million ballots cast over the last four Alberta elections.

mblack@postmedia.com

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