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Part of New and proposed legislation

Modernizing addiction treatment licensing

This legislation supports quality mental health and addiction care and helps Albertans access the right supports to meet their needs.

Status: The Mental Health Services Protection Amendment Act, 2025, received royal assent on May 15, 2025
Ministry responsible: Mental Health and Addiction

Overview

The Mental Health Services Protection Amendment Act, 2025, (formerly Bill 37) amends the Mental Health Services Protection Act to provide more flexibility to be responsive to the evolving needs of Albertans. The amendments provide better oversight for mental health and addiction services and help ensure Albertans receive quality standardized treatment and services.

Key changes

The Mental Health Services Protection Amendment Act, 2025 makes the following amendments:

Enhancing bed-based addiction treatment services

Currently, all bed-based addiction treatment services are subject to the same licensing requirements, regardless of the type or intensity of services provided.

The amendments create 3 types of bed-based addiction treatment services subject to separate licensing requirements:

  • Withdrawal management services – Medically supervised services to manage or support an individual through the process of withdrawal from one or more substances.
  • Intensive treatment services – Intensive and structured residential care for individuals with addiction.
  • Non-intensive recovery services – Services, in a recovery-oriented environment, that provide less-intensive treatment compared to intensive treatment services.

Introducing exemptions

Amendments authorize the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction to exempt specific people or service providers on a case-by-case basis from requirements in the Mental Health Services Protection Act framework.

Exemptions will be allowed in specific instances, such as for medical reasons, scientific research, or when there’s a clear public benefit. Exemptions will only be granted in rare and complex circumstances. Clear guidelines will be developed to ensure exemptions are only granted in appropriate circumstances.

Refining regulatory requirements

Amendments:

  • move content regarding bed-based addiction treatment services from the act to the regulation and/or standards
  • rename 'residential addiction treatment services' to 'bed-based addiction treatment services' and 'supervised consumption services' to 'drug consumption services'
  • update certain language for clarity

These amendments address regulatory inconsistencies, clarify requirements and better align the act with the Alberta Recovery Model.

Read more about: Bill 37: Mental Health Services Protection Amendment Act, 2025

Next steps

The Mental Health Services Protection Amendment Act, 2025, will come into effect in fall 2025.

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