Andrew Longhurst

Andrew Longhurst, B.A. (Hons), M.A., is a senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). He is also a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University. His research has been published in academic journals and by research institutes, including the Canadian Journal on Aging, Political Geography, the CCPA, and the Parkland Institute. His recent publications include Hollowed Out (CCPA, 2025), Operation Profit (Parkland Institute, 2025), and At What Cost? (CCPA, 2023). As an expert on health policy and finance, his commentaries appear regularly in news media across the country. Follow him on Bluesky at @alonghurst.bsky.social.

Twitter: @a_longhurst

authortag: author_andrew_longhurst

The End of Canadian Medicare? Alberta Legislation Opens the Door to U.S. Health Care

research | Feb 03, 2026

When Bill 11 passed in December 2025, Alberta became the first province to legislate two-tier health care — a system that gives faster access to those who can pay and longer waits for those who can’t afford to jump the queue — for medically necessary services. This report shows how the Health Statutes Amendment Act puts Canadian medicare at risk and opens the door for American health insurance corporations to enter the Canadian market.

Attack on AHS Reveals the Failings of Surgery Privatization

blog | Apr 08, 2025

Danielle Smith tried — again — to blame AHS for the province’s health care woes. Alas (for her), hard data has a way of catching up with misleading statements. This article show how responsibility for the poor performance, high costs, and potential irregularities in Alberta’s surgical crisis sits squarely with the government.

Operation Profit: Private Surgical Contracts Deliver Higher Costs and Longer Waits

research | Mar 26, 2025

New data analyzed in this report shows that the costs of private surgical services under the Alberta Surgical Initiative have skyrocketed, even as patients face increasingly long waits — including for cancer and other critical surgeries. Meanwhile, Alberta is one of only three provinces where real per capita hospital spending has been steadily declining for the past decade.

Failing to Deliver: The Alberta Surgical Initiative and Declining Surgical Capacity

research | May 16, 2023

Through Freedom of Information requests, statistical analysis, and a review of the research literature, this report evaluates claims made by the Alberta government about the effectiveness of the Alberta Surgical Initiative in reducing wait times and the role of for-profit surgical outsourcing. Based on the research evidence, the report recommends that the provincial government shift away from for-profit surgical delivery and fully commit to public system improvement.