Alberta Bill 11: Changes to Extended Health Care (EHC) coverage and what you need to do

Alberta Bill 11 will change how we pay for prescription drugs and certain EHC expenses for plan members residing in Alberta.

This communication explains the legislative changes, outlines the updates Sun Life is making and highlights any actions required from you.

How Alberta Bill 11 affects your group benefits plan

Effective October 1, 2026:

• Alberta Seniors and Alberta Non-Group plans will become the payers of last resort for prescription drugs and certain EHC expenses. For active employees and retirees, Sun Life group benefits coverage must pay first, where coverage is available

• Employers cannot terminate or reduce drug and EHC coverage because of age for plan members covered under an active employee plan. Age restrictions may continue to apply to retiree plans.

Updates to your EHC plan and Health Spending Account (HSA)

Mandatory Contract Updates

Effective October 1, 2026, we'll remove age-based terminations for EHC coverage for plan members who reside in Alberta and are covered under your active employee plan. If your plan has an HSA, we’ll also remove age-based terminations from the HSA to align it with the EHC coverage changes. Other reasons EHC coverage may end, such as retirement, will continue to apply. 

If you'd like to apply the same EHC termination provisions to all active employees regardless of province of residence, please refer to the Action required section of this communication.

Payer of last resort change

We'll make the required updates to the drug claims adjudication system automatically and no action is required from you. For Alberta residents, this means that effective October 1, 2026, the Sun Life drug plan will pay eligible drug claims before the Alberta government plan. No changes are required for other EHC claims as the Sun Life plan already pays before the Alberta government plan.

Action required

Assess affected plan members

Please review your plan member data to identify any active employees whose EHC coverage ended because of age. Any affected employees must have their EHC coverage reinstated to comply with Alberta Bill 11. If you identify affected employees, contact your Sun Life Group Benefits representative to discuss updates that may be required.

Review age-based termination provisions for active employees

Under Alberta Bill 11, EHC coverage can no longer end or be reduced because of age for active employees residing in Alberta.

If you'd like to remove age-based termination for all active employees under your plan, including those residing outside Alberta, please have one representative from your company complete this form by September 15, 2026. We'll make the change effective October 1, 2026.

If your Dental plan includes age-based termination for active employees, you may also choose to remove it using the same form to align your Dental and EHC coverage. Alberta Bill 11 does not require changes to Dental coverage.

Other reasons coverage may end, such as retirement, will continue to apply. If you do not wish to make these changes, no action is required.

Additional information

• To find out more details about Alberta Bill 11, you can also visit the Government of Alberta legislation page or review our previous communications from April 2026 and June 2026.
• Attached is a plan member communication that you can share with your members. We will also be sharing directly with impacted plan members with an email on file.  We will send an initial email in mid-September so plan members are aware of actions they may need to take, followed by a reminder email after October 1.

This Focus Update is an important document and amends your Sun Life Group Benefits contract(s), effective October 1, 2026. Your contract and booklet will be updated to reflect the applicable changes at your next plan revision.

Questions? We’re here to help.

Please contact your Sun Life Group Benefits representative.