Patient-oriented research · Alberta & NWT

Health data, ready for research.

Provincial Research Data Services helps researchers access, link, and analyze Alberta's administrative and clinical health data — guiding every study from a first feasibility question to a peer-reviewed result.

Developed byKamran AhmedSenior Advisor, EDE

Better Data · Better Research · Better Care

By the numbers

Data from across the province of Alberta, made research-ready.

13linked provincial health data sources on one secure platform
30yrsof practitioner claims & registry history — back to 1994
~200research data requests supported every year
Who we are

Linked, not siloed

Hospital, ambulatory, pharmacy, lab, and registry data extracted and linked at the patient level, so one cohort tells a complete story.

Governed & secure

Every extraction follows Alberta privacy legislation, ethics approval, and operational review — de-identified data inside the AHS firewall.

Expertise beside you

Master's- and PhD-trained analysts partner with your team on design, coding algorithms, and statistical analysis — not just a data drop.

13
Provincial data sources available to link
200+
Research requests supported each year
1994
Earliest year of claims & registry data
2
Hubs — analysts in Edmonton & Calgary
The data platform

One secure repository, decades of linked data

A centralized, patient-level repository inside the Alberta Health Services firewall — spanning hospital stays, emergency and ambulatory care, prescriptions, labs, imaging, and more.

Live
DAD

Discharge Abstract Database

Acute-care inpatient hospitalizations across Alberta.

2002 – present
Live
NACRS

Ambulatory Care Reporting

Emergency department, same-day surgery, and day procedures.

2002 – present
Live
PIN

Pharmaceutical Information Network

Prescriptions dispensed from most community pharmacies.

2008 – present
See all 13 data sources
How engagement works

From your question to your dataset, a governed path.

Access follows four clear phases — Planning, Access, Release, and Retention — each with the ethics, privacy, and operational checks that keep Albertans' data safe. We walk it with you, and a Letter of Support can confirm feasibility for your grant.

Walk through the process
Start here

Have a research question waiting on data?

Tell us about your study. We'll assess feasibility, map the datasets you need, and outline a path to a linked, analysis-ready cohort.