Spruce Grove, Alberta, will transition to provincially run ambulance services on October 1, 2026, after city council voted unanimously not to renew its contract with Emergency Health Services and a final meeting with the province confirmed no alternative funding is available.
Mayor Jeff Acker shared the update in a public message on July 17, 2026, following a July 16 meeting with Alberta Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services Adriana LaGrange. “The Minister confirmed the Province is not prepared to negotiate a different funding model for Spruce Grove or other affected municipalities,” Acker said. “While that wasn’t the outcome we had hoped for, that provided the clarity we needed to move forward.”
The decision brings an end to the city’s 17-year integrated Fire-EMS model, in which firefighters were also trained paramedics. Spruce Grove has provided ground ambulance support under contract to Alberta Health Services, now EHS, since 2009. The current agreement expires September 30, 2026.
Council’s 6-0 vote on May 11, 2026 not to renew the contract came after the province proposed a new funding model that would have left the city covering an annual shortfall of just over $1 million, equivalent to roughly a 1.67 percent municipal tax increase. That subsidy was projected to climb to $1.5 million within five years and surpass $2 million annually within a decade, with no guarantee ambulances would stay based in Spruce Grove.
“This has not been an easy discussion or debate, and it’s not taken lightly by this Council,” Acker said in May. “The ultimatum by the Province on integrated Fire-EMS service models was unfair to the City of Spruce Grove.”
Under the provincial plan, two fully staffed Advanced Life Support ambulances will be stationed in Spruce Grove around the clock, with crews permanently co-located at the city’s Protective Services building. The city’s Medical First Response program will remain unchanged, meaning Spruce Grove firefighters will keep responding to medical emergencies and providing care until an ambulance arrives.
The province has also committed to creating a pathway for affected city employees to transition to EHS Alberta. The city says ambulance services are a provincial responsibility that should not be subsidized by municipal taxpayers.
