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Alberta Restores Presumptive PTSD Coverage for Nurses

A cabinet order presumes job-related causation for PTSD claims by registered and psychiatric nurses, fulfilling a union promise to match first responders’ mental-health support.

Staff in the ICU at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Alta. in September 2021.
A sign outside the Rockyview General Hospital is pictured in Calgary, Thursday, March 20, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Overview

  • A cabinet order signed July 24 by Jobs Minister Joseph Schow reinstates presumptive PTSD coverage for registered nurses and psychiatric nurses.
  • Under the revised regulations, the Workers’ Compensation Board must assume job-related causation for eligible nurses’ PTSD claims unless evidence disproves the link.
  • The change fulfills a collective bargaining pledge by the United Nurses of Alberta to extend mental-health support on par with police, firefighters, emergency medical workers and correctional officers.
  • Opponents of the 2021 policy argued that nurses have faced heightened PTSD risks due to moral distress, verbal and physical abuse and chronic understaffing during the pandemic.
  • Licensed practical nurses remain excluded from the presumptive coverage, raising concerns about support gaps for other front-line health-care staff.