Compliance Marketing
Alberta Dual Practice · Bill 11 Compliance
Alberta Dual Practice Marketing, Built by a Canadian Team That Knows the Rules
Last verified September 2026, against Bill 11 (SA 2025, c 21) and the CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice (reissued January 2021). Regulations under this law are still being finalized in places. We update this page when they change.
Catmo Media is a marketing agency based in Calgary, Alberta. We help Alberta dual practice clinics market private-pay surgery without breaking the CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice or Bill 11's disclosure rules. We are not a law firm. Before you spend a dollar on ads, start with our Dual Practice Marketing Readiness Audit.
Who This Serves
Which procedures does Alberta's dual practice model cover?
Alberta's dual practice model covers a defined list of elective procedures, mostly ones with long public wait times, where a patient can pay privately for faster access outside the public system. Not every procedure qualifies. Here's what's currently on the list.
- Hip and knee replacements
- Cataract surgery
- Select ear, nose, and throat procedures
- Gynecological surgeries
- Dermatology
- Plastic surgery
- Minimally invasive general surgeries, such as hernia repair
Cancer care, life-threatening conditions, and emergency or urgent procedures are excluded. This list can change. Check current status at alberta.ca/dual-practice.
If your clinic works in any of these areas, the Readiness Audit applies to you.
The Risk
Why could a US marketing agency put an Alberta physician at risk?
Most US ophthalmology and orthopedic agencies build campaigns on patient testimonials, before-and-after photo galleries, results guarantees, and limited-time pricing. Alberta's CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice bans all of these, and the banned list is longer than most agencies expect. On a 20 minute call, we walk through exactly which rules touch your clinic. Source: CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice.
One more clause worth knowing before you hire anyone: the physician, not the agency, has to be able to show CPSA in writing that any third-party advertising was reviewed and approved. That's a paper trail an agency has to build in from the start. A firm that has never read the CPSA standard isn't going to know to build it.
We've heard this directly from Alberta ophthalmologists in 2026: US agencies are already pitching this exact playbook in Alberta. That playbook comes from a market that treats surgery like retail. Canada holds physician advertising to a stricter, patient-first standard, and Alberta enforces it.
Since January 5, 2026, the consequences got sharper. Alberta's Health Minister can impose an administrative penalty directly under Bill 11 section 28.1, based on the Minister's own opinion, with no court or prosecution required, up to six years after the contravention comes to the Minister's attention. Under section 20.31, the Minister can also make the contravention public. Source: Bill 11 full text.
The honest part
Catmo hasn't run a marketing campaign in any of these surgical specialties before. We're telling you that upfront because if you've been burned by an agency that overpromised, you deserve a straight answer before you sign anything. What we bring instead: a Calgary team that spent 2026 reading this statute and the CPSA standard clause by clause, so your campaign gets built inside the rules from day one. We've also run marketing in other regulated Canadian industries, including cannabis, psychedelic medicine, and finance.
The Toolbox
Why can Catmo reach patients that Search and Social ads miss?
Search and Social ads only reach people already looking on those two platforms, and both platforms decide who you reach and what you pay. Programmatic buying opens connected TV, streaming audio, digital screens out-of-home, native, and in-app inventory instead, using contextual and geographic targeting that does not depend on cookies.
Programmatic advertising makes it possible to reach people researching a specific health topic without cookies or personal data, through keyword and content-level targeting instead of individual tracking. It also makes it possible to run one coordinated campaign across streaming TV, audio, and display, timed to when your audience is actually paying attention.
Catmo buys across all of these channels. We've built cookieless, contextual campaigns for health and wellness clients, and we've run marketing in regulated Canadian industries, including healthcare, cannabis, and finance, where the rules shape every ad we write.
The Audit
What is the Dual Practice Marketing Readiness Audit?
It's a $3,500 fixed-fee audit that scores your clinic's current website and marketing against the CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice, checks your booking flow against Bill 11's section 8.2 disclosure and consent requirements, and gives you a private-pay page blueprint. It's diagnostic only. Nothing goes live during the audit. Turnaround is about two weeks from the day you give us access.
What's included
CPSA compliance scorecard. Every finding on your current site cited to the exact clause, with a compliant rewrite of your own copy.
Section 8.2 disclosure and consent gap report. Where your booking flow is missing the six disclosures Bill 11 requires before a private-pay service, and where the written-consent step needs to sit.
Private-pay page blueprint, plus one mockup. What the page needs to say and show to stay compliant, shown in your own brand. Nothing published live.
Local SEO and Google Business Profile audit. Benchmarked against nearby clinics.
Analytics and tracking review. Whether a booked consult would actually show up in your numbers.
One-page readiness scorecard, graded A to F. So you have something to act on the day you get it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is patient testimonial marketing legal for Alberta dual practice clinics?
No. Clause 1(i) of the CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice prohibits physician advertising from including claims, representations, endorsements, or testimonials, in any medium. This applies whether the marketing is built by a Canadian or a US agency. Source: CPSA Advertising Standard of Practice.
Can a clinic charge extra for a premium lens or implant upgrade in Alberta?
AHCIP covers the standard, medically necessary lens or implant. A patient can choose and pay for an upgrade privately, but only if the standard option is genuinely offered at no charge, paying isn't a condition of getting the surgery, the upgrade doesn't buy faster or different access, and the charge is disclosed and consented to in writing in advance. The standard option changes nothing about the surgery, the surgeon, or the wait.
What happens if a clinic's marketing breaks the CPSA Advertising Standard?
Since January 5, 2026, Alberta's Health Minister can impose an administrative penalty directly under Bill 11 section 28.1, based on the Minister's own opinion, with no court or prosecution required. A notice can be issued up to six years after the contravention comes to the Minister's attention. The Minister can also publicly name the physician or clinic under section 20.31. Source: Bill 11 full text.
What does Bill 11 require before charging a patient for a private-pay surgery?
Under section 8.2, the physician must give the patient six specific disclosures in writing before the service: their participation status, the nature of the service, the price, that payment is required, that the patient isn't entitled to a Minister-paid benefit for it, and that the same service may be available as an insured service from another physician. The patient must acknowledge, agree to receive, and agree to pay, all in writing.
How much does the Dual Practice Marketing Readiness Audit cost, and how long does it take?
$3,500, fixed fee, about two weeks turnaround from the day you give us access. It's diagnostic only, nothing is built or published live during the audit.
What happens after the audit?
If you're ready to launch, Catmo can run ongoing marketing and ad management on retainer. Most clinics land between $2,500 and $4,500 a month, depending on scope and goals. The audit tells you exactly what needs fixing first. There's no obligation to continue past it.
Know what you're allowed to say before you spend money saying it online.
The $3,500 Dual Practice Marketing Readiness Audit is diagnostic, fixed-fee, and about two weeks turnaround. You get a full CPSA compliance scorecard, a section 8.2 gap report, and a private-pay page blueprint, before you commit to anything ongoing.
If you want Catmo to run the campaigns after the audit, ongoing management runs $2,500 to $4,500 a month, depending on scope and goals.
Catmo Media is a marketing agency, not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Bill 11 and CPSA requirements were current as of September 2026 and parts of the regulatory framework are still being finalized. Confirm current status at alberta.ca/dual-practice and cpsa.ca, and review compliance decisions with your own counsel.