Alberta government announces $35 million addiction facility in Clairmont

Through the Alberta Recovery Model, the UCP government is trying to establish a “recovery community in Grande Prairie to serve northern Alberta,” and will work with facilities located all over the Peace region to help residents break the cycle of addiction.

“No matter who you are, whether you’re from the far north or you’re from just inside town, you’re going to have access to this. Doesn’t matter your background or where you are, Alberta has a universal system. We removed all barriers that we could think of to get access to treatment. There’s no longer a $1,240 monthly fee that used to be in under the NDP, we have removed that.”

“If you want immediate same-day access to that Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) through VODP’s (Virtual Opioid Dependency Program) as I mentioned, that’s now free.”

Photo Courtesy EGP Staff

Minster Williams added that constructing a facility like this “gives us capacity,” not only within the entire addiction system in northwest Alberta, but also on this site specifically, as there is lots of room to grow, which he says is a key focus of the UCP’s plan.

“Since getting into government in 2019, we (the UCP) have increased 10,000 treatment spaces; detox and treatment, across the entire system. Adding this facility is part of our plan to remove all barriers. We don’t want capacity to be a question. If somebody is looking for access to treatment, (or) if somebody is suffering from addiction, we want there to be a clean and easy way out of addiction and into treatment.”

Photo Courtesy EGP Staff

This 50-bed facility, being built near the County of Grande Prairie’s Clairmont Fire Station along Township Road 724. It is expected to be completed and open to patients by 2027.

In a release, Minster Williams summed up his announcement by saying; “Our government is proud to invest in treatment and recovery as it is the most compassionate, dignified approach in supporting people suffering from the disease of addiction. I look forward to seeing the positive change in northern Alberta as families are reunited and healed from the pain caused by addiction.”

Following this announcement, the Alberta NDP released a statement.

Alberta NDP critic for Mental Health and Addictions, Janet Eremenko called this announcement a “one size fits all” approach, that is “failing to address the loss and the gravity of this crisis.”

She added, “Since taking power in 2019, the UCP government has committed to building eleven recovery communities, to date, only two are accepting clients. 2023 was the worst year on record for death by substance use in Alberta, seeing over five people a day die.”

In her statement, Eremenko also highlighted the effects of addiction on Indigenous people; “We learned last week that First Nations people in Alberta are dying at a rate 8.4 times that of non-First Nations people due to opioid use. There are entire communities in crisis, and many have called a local state of emergency.”

The NDP says the government’s model for recovery is “too slow and insufficient,” as a singular focus on treatment doesn’t address prevention, early intervention, and an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable drug supply.

Eremenko and the NDP are calling for a recovery model that allows for a full spectrum of support “that includes harm reduction for those who need it, or continue drug use after treatment.”

Eremenko added that “recovery is indeed possible for everyone, but the process isn’t linear or universal.”

by Tanner Smith

Alberta government announces $35 million addiction facility in Clairmont

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