For Health Care Aides

Mandatory Enrolment

Alberta Health has mandated that all Health Care Aides (HCAs) working for a publicly funded employer need to ensure continued enrolment in the Alberta HCA Directory.

Why is it mandatory?

Having all HCAs working for publicly funded employers enrol in the Directory will provide Alberta Health and its partners with good workforce data, which will support the development of health human resource plans. More importantly, it will provide public assurance that Alberta’s HCAs are competent.

There are three core competencies on the Alberta HCA Directory:

  • Certified: HCAs who have successfully completed and received a Health Care Aide certificate in Alberta.
  • Substantial Equivalence: Graduates of a Health Care Aide program outside of Alberta, internationally educated nurses; and individuals with education as a Health Care Aide, personal support worker, continuing care assistant, nurse, or other profession considered to provide direct patient care.
  • Deemed Competent: HCAs who have no formal health care education and have been assessed using a completed competency assessment tool by a regulated nurse employed by an operator.

Health Care Aide FAQs

Can a HCA working for a private employer enrol?

Yes, the Alberta HCA Directory is a useful resource for HCAs, we encourage all HCAs to enrol. By enrolling in the Directory, you can directly impact your career by:

  • demonstrating achievement of your core competency status;
  • providing accurate workforce data to support the development of provincial workforce planning; and
  • having a one-stop location to get HCA information, news, educational opportunities and updates. This includes course offerings for skills development, education and training, and job links.

What HCA information will be collected by the Directory?

  • Personal and Demographic information: name, address, email address, gender, age, and contact information
  • Employment Information: employer’s name, primary supervisor’s contact information and the number of hours worked per week
  • Attainment of core competencies: name and address of educational institution attended, graduation date and transcript

What kind of information will be provided to current employers?

The HCA Directory will act as an information database giving employers the opportunity to learn about the HCA role and status of attainment of core competencies.

The HCA Directory will supply the following elements:

  • HCA Name
  • HCA attainment of core competencies
  • HCA Employment Profile
  • HCA Directory enrolment and expiry dates

Note that employers are only able to see specific information about their own HCA employees.

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