Alberta’s government and the City of Red Deer worked together to pick the location within the Chiles Industrial Park, directly adjacent to Highway 2A. Construction of the recovery community is anticipated to start this fall.
“Supporting people to find their path to long-term recovery remains a commitment of our government – but we can’t reach this goal alone. Thank you to the City of Red Deer for their dedication to working together to find a site that considers the needs of those seeking support, businesses, local residents and the community as a whole.”
“Thanks to the work of officials at Alberta Infrastructure, in partnership with the City of Red Deer, we are another step closer to having a new home to better support Albertans suffering from addictions on their path to recovery.”
Recovery communities, also known as therapeutic communities, are a form of long-term residential treatment for addiction and used in more than 65 countries around the world.
“The identification of the location of the future therapeutic community marks an important next step towards a solution to many of the health and social challenges our community has contended with for years due to lack of comprehensive health and social infrastructure and programming in our city and region. This project will help respond to the long-standing need for local residential addictions treatment to help address community impacts of the national drug crisis.”
“This announcement means we are one step closer to adding this life-saving support to our community. While new to Alberta, recovery communities have proven to be effective in helping individuals reach long-term addiction recovery. I look forward to the positive difference this new support will have.”
“Addictions have the capacity to disconnect our wills and rob us of the power to decide, inflicting suffering on ourselves, our families and communities. I’m proud to be part of a government focused on supporting Albertans seeking to become free from addictions. Recovery communities are special places, where individuals love and serve each other in their individual journeys to recovery. These are places of miracles, blessing and healing our neighbours, families and communities. This is very exciting news!”
Alberta’s government is committed to a recovery-oriented system of care that provides easy access to a full continuum of services. A $140-million investment over four years is supporting the addition of new publicly funded treatment spaces; the elimination of daily user fees for publicly funded residential addiction treatment; and services to reduce harm, such as the Digital Overdose Prevention System app, the introduction of nasal naloxone kits and the expansion of opioid agonist therapy.
This $140-million commitment is in addition to the more than $800 million Alberta Health Services spends annually to provide mental health and addiction services in communities across the province.
Quick facts
- Alberta’s government is investing in mental health and addictions:
- $140 million over four years to enhance the mental health and addiction care system and create more publicly funded treatment spaces. This funding includes $40 million specifically to support the opioid response.
- More than $53 million to implement more online, phone and in-person mental health and addiction recovery supports to make it easier for Albertans to access services from anywhere in Alberta during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- For anyone using opioids, naloxone kits are available free of charge at pharmacies across the province. Call 911 in an emergency.
- The Addiction Helpline, a 24-7 confidential toll-free service, at 1-866-332-2322, can provide support, information and referral to services. Treatment can also start right away by calling the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program (VODP) seven days per week at 1-844-383-7688.