Alberta’s government is launching Assisted Living Alberta, a new provincial agency that will oversee continuing care, including long-term care, home care, and community support.
The agency, set to be legally established by April 1 and fully operational by fall 2025, is part of a broader restructuring of the healthcare system.
The government says the move will expand care spaces, reduce wait times, and better integrate health and social services to meet rising demand. With one in five Albertans expected to be 65 or older by 2046, officials say the system must evolve to handle an 80 per cent increase in continuing care needs over the next decade.
However, Friends of Medicare argues that restructuring doesn’t fix the crisis—a worsening shortage of frontline staff, declining care standards, and growing privatization.
"We’ve seen nothing from this government to suggest that the creation of an entirely new agency, siloed from the other pillars of health care, will in any way improve continuing care," said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
The organization cites two 2023 Auditor General reports that flagged severe staffing shortages in Alberta’s long-term care system and the latest Protection for Persons in Care (PPC) report, which found that cases of abuse in continuing care more than tripled over the past year.
Gallaway says the government is shuffling health care administration instead of addressing chronic understaffing in care homes and home care services.
"Instead of improving conditions in these facilities, the UCP is restructuring health care administration while failing to set or enforce care standards," he said.
The group also criticized Alberta’s refusal to adopt National Long-Term Care Standards and its removal of mandated minimum care hours per resident per day. Gallaway said privatization remains a key issue as more for-profit operators take control of continuing care facilities with little oversight.
"This government has systematically privatized Alberta’s continuing care system at the direct expense of seniors and the people who care for them," he said. "Private corporations continue to profit from Albertans' care needs, with no accountability."
Friends of Medicare demands the return of an independent Seniors’ Advocate and stronger public oversight of long-term care facilities and funding. The group is urging Albertans to sign a petition for increased home care funding.
Public consultation on Assisted Living Alberta is open until March 3 online.
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@centralalbertaonline.com.
CentralAlbertaOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CentralAlbertaOnline app.