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Alberta

What’s on Tap? – High Line Brewing to Reopen with New Renovations Come September

Published

5 years ago

4 minute read

After several months of off-sales only, Inglewood’s High Line Brewing is preparing to reopen their newly renovated taproom! 

Now in their fourth year of operation, HLB is nearing completion on a major remodeling project that will dramatically expand the brewery. “We used to have a 35-seat tasting room,” says Graham Dolce, Co-founder of High Line Brewing, “We are going from a tiny room with 6 tables, to a 105 seat music venue with 20 taps. It’s super exciting!” 

Located in lively Inglewood, Calgary’s oldest neighborhood, High Line Brewing fits in well with the surrounding unique arts, dining and shopping attractions. Now within walking distance of several other local breweries, High Line has been a part of the continually expanding craft brew industry in Inglewood since November 2016. 

HLB began as a venture between three work friends who were fond of backyard brewing. “We knew we wanted to start a brewery if and when the rules changed,” says Graham of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission regulations regarding microbreweries, which were relaxed in 2013 to make owning and operating a brewery in Alberta far more attainable. 

Since then, the brewery has undergone a number of changes and updates, but one thing has always stayed the same – the commitment to high quality, local products that can be enjoyed by anyone. “We want beer drinkers in general to know the absolute breadth of the beer that is available to them,” says Graham, “at High Line, there is always something new in the tank.” 

The 20 beers available on tap in the newly renovated space will feature a rotating ensemble of 12-14 High Line beers, a number of guest taps from all across Alberta and Canada, as well as some non-alcoholic alternatives. The draught selection will be balanced with cocktail and wine menus, and light snacks are available for purchase in-house. Patrons are also invited to order from Without Papers Pizza in Inglewood, who offer free delivery to the brewery.  

As the industry in Inglewood has continued to expand, the sense of community among brewers has only gotten stronger. “It’s a much different vibe with craft breweries than Class A’s,” says Graham of conventional liquor-licensed establishments, “We all get along. We’re very tight with the breweries in this area for sure.”  According to Graham, it is becoming increasingly popular to see people making a day of touring the breweries in the area. With so many taprooms in such a close proximity, as business improves for one of them, they all benefit together. 

The owners of High Line Brewing are ecstatic for the remainder of 2020 as they prepare to reopen their doors in the coming weeks and debut their new and improved taproom. Graham is looking forward to eventually scheduling music and trivia events in their expanded space, and enjoying the remainder of the nice weather on their two outdoor patios. 

To learn more about High Line Brewing and to stay up-to-date with their renovation news, visit http://highlinebrewing.com.  

 

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary.

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Alberta

Alberta takes big step towards shorter wait times and higher quality health care

Published on April 9, 2025

By

From the Fraser Institute

By Nadeem Esmail

On Monday, the Smith government announced that beginning next year it will change the way it funds surgeries in Alberta. This is a big step towards unlocking the ability of Alberta’s health-care system to provide more, better and faster services for the same or possibly fewer dollars.

To understand the significance of this change, you must understand the consequences of the current (and outdated) approach.

Currently, the Alberta government pays a lump sum of money to hospitals each year. Consequently, hospitals perceive patients as a drain on their budgets. From the hospital’s perspective, there’s little financial incentive to serve more patients, operate more efficiently and provide superior quality services.

Consider what would happen if your local grocery store received a giant bag of money each year to feed people. The number of items would quickly decline to whatever was most convenient for the store to provide. (Have a favourite cereal? Too bad.) Store hours would become less convenient for customers, alongside a general decline in overall service. This type of grocery store, like an Alberta hospital, is actually financially better off (that is, it saves money) if you go elsewhere.

The Smith government plans to flip this entire system on its head, to the benefit of patients and taxpayers. Instead of handing out bags of money each year to providers, the new system—known as “activity-based funding”—will pay health-care providers for each patient they treat, based on the patient’s particular condition and important factors that may add complexity or cost to their care.

This turns patients from a drain on budgets into a source of additional revenue. The result, as has been demonstrated in other universal health-care systems worldwide, is more services delivered using existing health-care infrastructure, lower wait times, improved quality of care, improved access to medical technologies, and less waste.

In other words, Albertans will receive far better value from their health-care system, which is currently among the most expensive in the world. And relief can’t come soon enough—for example, last year in Alberta the median wait time for orthopedic surgeries including hip and knee replacements was 66.8 weeks.

The naysayers argue this approach will undermine the province’s universal system and hurt patients. But by allowing a spectrum of providers to compete for the delivery of quality care, Alberta will follow the lead of other more successful universal health-care systems in countries such as Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland and create greater accountability for hospitals and other health-care providers. Taxpayers will get a much better picture of what they’re paying for and how much they pay.

Again, Alberta is not exploring an untested policy. Almost every other developed country with universal health care uses some form of “activity-based funding” for hospital and surgical care. And remember, we already spend more on health care than our counterparts in nearly all of these countries yet endure longer wait times and poorer access to services generally, in part because of how we pay for surgical care.

While the devil is always in the details, and while it’s still possible for the Alberta government to get this wrong, Monday’s announcement is a big step in the right direction. A funding model that puts patients first will get Albertans more of the high-quality health care they already pay for in a timelier fashion. And provide to other provinces an example of bold health-care reform.

Nadeem Esmail

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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Alberta

Alberta’s embrace of activity-based funding is great news for patients

Published on April 9, 2025

By

From the Montreal Economic Institute

Alberta’s move to fund acute care services through activity-based funding follows best practices internationally, points out an MEI researcher following an announcement made by Premier Danielle Smith earlier today.

“For too long, the way hospitals were funded in Alberta incentivized treating fewer patients, contributing to our long wait times,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, director of research at the MEI. “International experience has shown that, with the proper funding models in place, health systems become more efficient to the benefit of patients.”

Currently, Alberta’s hospitals are financed under a system called “global budgeting.” This involves allocating a pre-set amount of funding to pay for a specific number of services based on previous years’ budgets.

Under the government’s newly proposed funding system, hospitals receive a fixed payment for each treatment delivered.

An Economic Note published by the MEI last year showed that Quebec’s gradual adoption of activity-based funding led to higher productivity and lower costs in the province’s health system.

Notably, the province observed that the per-procedure cost of MRIs fell by four per cent as the number of procedures performed increased by 22 per cent.

In the radiology and oncology sector, it observed productivity increases of 26 per cent while procedure costs decreased by seven per cent.

“Being able to perform more surgeries, at lower costs, and within shorter timelines is exactly what Alberta’s patients need, and Premier Smith understands that,” continued Mrs. Wittevrongel. “Today’s announcement is a good first step, and we look forward to seeing a successful roll-out once appropriate funding levels per procedure are set.”

The governments expects to roll-out this new funding model for select procedures starting in 2026.

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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