Alberta

Gender-affirming care in Alberta is accessible through primary care providers, as well as several specialty clinics available below. For additional information and support, check out the Trans Wellness Initiative.

The Calgary Gender Clinic provides assessment and support for people throughout their transition, including connecting people to hormone providers and psychiatric referrals for gender-affirming surgeries. This clinic also offers mental health treatment (e.g. related to anxiety around gender), and support regarding social transition (including support with family, work, and legal document changes).

The Gender Program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton also provides comprehensive assessments, as well as gender-affirming interventions in the areas of psychiatry, endocrinology, pediatric and adolescent medicine, and nursing support.

As for financial coverage, Alberta Health Services covers many options for medical transition such as gender-affirming hormone therapy, and surgeries through their Gender Reaffirming Program. But, some Alberta-funded surgeries must be conducted at Montreal GRS. The waitlist for the Montreal clinic is several years long which leads many patients to seek out-of-pocket options elsewhere.

For those pursuing government-funded medical transition, Alberta Health provides once per lifetime funding for Alberta residents diagnosed with gender dysphoria who meet the established program criteria to receive lower body surgery (phalloplasty, metoidioplasty or vaginoplasty). Application forms for the funding program can be found here.

Alberta also offers coverage for breast augmentation and mastectomy, but you must be pre-approved through a Request for Breast Surgery application. You also have to be assessed by a psychiatrist or other physician and be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and have little to no breast growth according to the surgeon.

Launched in late 2023, the Foria Clinic provides virtual consultations for health and wellness support, gender-affirming hormone therapy, surgical referrals, letters for gender marker change and more to trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people in Alberta. There is limited availability in Alberta right now as they have moved to a physician-based model, allowing for appointments to be free with a valid health card. They are working to add more physicians and up-to-date availability can be found on their booking site at this time. (Last updated February 2024)

The Alex Youth Centre provides peer support groups and transition-related care, including sexual health and ID document support, to youth ages 12-24 in Calgary.