Officials, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, announce the government's plan to advance addiction support services. (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Alberta announces $180 million for new addiction treatment centres

Feb 24, 2025 | 12:52 PM

The Government of Alberta is looking at a major investment into addiction support services.

Premier Danielle Smith said Monday that, as part of Budget 2025, the province would look to spend $180 million over three years to build two “compassionate intervention centres.”

They would be located in Calgary and Edmonton and have 150 treatment beds each.

“For those suffering from addiction, there are two paths – they can let their addiction destroy and take their life or they can enter recovery. Alberta’s government is committed to providing a recovery-oriented system of care to ensure that those suffering from addiction have the opportunity to rebuild their lives,” says Smith.

She adds, “That’s why we are introducing compassionate intervention as another tool in the Alberta Recovery Model. This upcoming legislation will help keep our communities safe while ensuring our most vulnerable can access much-needed recovery supports.”

A media release from the government says that compassionate intervention is a made-in-Alberta strategy to address the addiction crisis.

It takes evidence-based models used in other jurisdictions and tailors them to meet the unique needs of Albertans.

The Alberta Recovery Model, which also includes a Virtual Opioid Dependency Program, has resulted in the number of fatal drug overdoses falling by 39 per cent between the first 10 months of 2023 and the same period in 2024.

Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams says the Northern and Southern Alberta Compassionate Intervention Centres would help to further decrease the number of lives lost due to addiction.

The centres would serve as multi-functional facilities where patients could access mental health and addiction supports, including intake assessments, medically-supported detox, counselling, individual and group therapy and more.

“We cannot – and will not – stand by and let addiction destroy our families and communities,” says Williams. “These new facilities show a strong commitment to delivering on our promise for compassionate intervention, ensuring families are no longer forced to watch their loved ones suffer from the deadly disease of addiction.”

Construction on the compassionate intervention centres is set to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2029.

In order to support Albertans who are suffering from addiction in the meantime, the government is also exploring options to have temporary compassionate intervention beds made available within existing facilities.

Recovery communities operate in 11 municipalities in Alberta.

Albertans struggling with opioid addiction can contact the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program (VODP) by calling 1-844-383-7688, seven days a week, from 6:00 a.m. to midnight daily. VODP provides same-day access to addiction medicine specialists. There is no waitlist.

Albertans can call 211 Alberta for information on services and supports in their community.

The Alberta NDP says the United Conservative government cannot be trusted to dole out capital or operating contracts under the shadow of recently healthcare-related announcements.

Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Addiction Janet Eremenko says Albertans have every reason to question the government’s ability to deliver addiction services, or healthcare at all.

Her comments reflect what the NDP has referred to as the “CorruptCare Scandal.”

Former head of Alberta Health Services Athana Mentzelopolous says she was fired by the province for speaking out against “questionable” contracts with private surgical operators that the government allegedly was pressuring her to sign.

Mentzelopolous alleged that Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange wanted her to expedite approving the deals, despite the costs to the private providers reportedly being significantly higher than what is paid to public surgeons.