COLD LAKE – A permanent MRI is officially moving closer to reality in Cold Lake after the City and CGA Medical Imaging Inc. signed an agreement that will see the municipality provide a .75-million loan toward the purchase of the machine, while the clinic takes on the renovations and expansion required to house and operate it.

Mayor Bob Mattice and Dr. Chander Gupta, founder of CGA Medical Imaging, signed the agreement Friday, marking the next major step in a project aimed at giving patients in Cold Lake and the surrounding region access to advanced diagnostic imaging without having to travel to larger centres.

There is currently no permanent MRI in Cold Lake or the Lakeland. A mobile MRI serves communities without a permanent machine, but availability when it visits Cold Lake is limited. The City has previously identified a permanent MRI as a way to improve local diagnostic services and potentially attract patients from outside the community.

“This is a very unique approach,” CAO Kevin Nagoya said during the signing, describing the partnership between the municipality and the privately operated medical imaging clinic.

The City’s $1.75-million contribution is a loan, not a grant. Once the MRI is operating, the agreement includes a revenue-sharing model intended to allow the City to recover its investment.

CGA Medical Imaging will be responsible for the renovations and expansion necessary to accommodate the machine.

The two partners also intend to work together to secure recognition of the local MRI for referrals through Alberta’s public health system.

Full-body MRI planned for Cold Lake

The machine being considered isn’t intended to offer only basic MRI services.

Gupta said CGA is looking at newer technology capable of providing full-body imaging, with plans to eventually expand the service into cardiac imaging and breast cancer screening.

“We will run this machine as if it is installed in a tertiary centre,” Gupta said.

CGA has not yet made its final selection between the two manufacturers under consideration, but Gupta said the clinic is looking at a non-helium MRI system.

Traditional MRI systems can require significant amounts of liquid helium to keep their powerful magnets cool. Gupta said the newer technology being considered would reduce maintenance requirements associated with helium and eliminate the need to refill the system if helium is lost due to a leak.

He said the technology could potentially make the Cold Lake installation one of the first of its kind in Alberta, although the final machine has not yet been selected.

That selection will also influence the project’s timeline, as delivery of the MRI magnet will depend on the manufacturer.

Mayor Bob Mattice and Dr. Chander Gupta, founder of CGA Medical Imaging, signed the agreement Friday, August 7, 2026

Months of work behind the agreement

Friday’s signing is the culmination of months of work between the City and CGA.

Gupta said he, Nagoya and others involved in the project have spent approximately six to eight months researching the technology and working through the details required to bring the service to Cold Lake.

The project itself has been developing publicly for considerably longer.

Cold Lake City Council approved a $1.75-million expenditure for MRI equipment as part of its 2026 capital budget. Council subsequently approved the borrowing required to finance the City’s portion of the project. City documents cited long waits and the need for residents to travel to Edmonton for private imaging as reasons for pursuing a local machine.

By May, administration told council the project remained “full steam ahead,” while CGA finalized construction pricing for the specialized facility required to accommodate MRI equipment.

The agreement signed Friday now establishes the framework for the City and CGA to move from planning toward purchasing and installing the equipment.

City of Cold Lake Mayor and Council, along with CGA Medical Imaging staff celebrate the signing of the MRI agreement.

A regional service, not just a Cold Lake service

Both sides see the project’s potential reach extending well beyond Cold Lake.

Mattice said patients could potentially travel from communities across central and northern Alberta to access the service, while Gupta spoke about serving the broader rural region.

For Cold Lake, that fits into a larger effort to build healthcare capacity locally.

The Cold Lake Medical Clinic has expanded its physician complement in recent years, and the City has continued to invest in the facility and to work on further expansion. Earlier this year, the City’s healthcare efforts also attracted interest from other rural communities looking at Cold Lake’s municipal approach to physician recruitment and medical services.

Gupta brings a long connection to that growth. He has worked in Cold Lake for more than 16 years and spoke at the signing about watching the community develop over that time and being grateful for the opportunity to continue serving the region.

Once installed, the MRI would allow patients to access a diagnostic service locally that currently requires limited mobile availability or travel outside the region.

For Mattice, the investment is also about positioning Cold Lake as a regional healthcare destination rather than accepting that rural residents must always travel to larger cities for advanced services.

The machine will be purchased and installed over the coming months, with the exact timeline dependent in part on equipment selection, delivery and completion of the clinic expansion.

With the agreement signed, Gupta summed up the milestone simply:

“So we are in business.”