Alberta Find a Doctor is a public tool run by Alberta’s Primary Care Networks in partnership with Alberta Health Services. It allows users to search by postal code, address or community to locate clinics, family doctors, nurse practitioners or health teams that are accepting new patients in their area. Additional filters include clinician type, gender preference, languages spoken, whether virtual appointments are available, walk-in or after-hours clinic access and physical accessibility.

Strengths and usefulness

The directory is very helpful if you are new in Alberta, moving within the province, or simply need to know which primary care providers nearby are currently accepting patients. The search is reasonably flexible: you can limit by geography or services, which supports better matching. The site makes transparent which clinics have certain amenities (e.g., wheelchair access, virtual visits) or are walk-in or after-hours. It has gradually become more known, with over a million visits in a year. Reports show that however, the number of physicians accepting new patients has dropped significantly in recent years.

Limitations and cautions

AFAD does not always reflect real-time availability of providers; a clinic marked “accepting new patients” might have changed status locally. Also, the distribution of accepting providers is uneven: urban zones like Edmonton and Calgary tend to have more listings, while rural or remote zones often have fewer. Some clinic details (e.g. exact hours, wait times) may be missing or need confirming directly with the clinic. Language filters are broad but may not guarantee full capability.

How and when to use it

Use AFAD when you need to find a primary care provider (family doctor, nurse practitioner) who is taking new patients near your location. Useful when relocating, changing providers, or waiting to be “attached” to a provider. Can also help decide between clinics based on accessibility, after-hours options or the languages spoken by clinicians. Always follow up by contacting the clinic or provider to confirm.

Backing, governance, and recent developments

Launched in 2019, AFAD was created to consolidate tools in Calgary and Edmonton zones and expand to a province-wide service. It is overseen by a steering committee involving Primary Care Networks, Alberta Health Services and other stakeholders. As part of broader policy reforms (e.g. “Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health Care System”), AFAD is slated for upgrades and expansion, aiming to improve data integrity, include more provider types, and reduce geographic gaps.