Province commits $400 million to to build continuing care spaces

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on December 11, 2025.

Medicine Hat News

The province unveiled substantial new investments in continuing care Wednesday.

The Assisted Living Framework will see the province invest billions over the next 10 years to build tens of thousands of continuing care spaces, including an initial investment of $400 million.

At a press conference Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith said one in five hospital beds in Alberta has been occupied by a patient who no longer requires acute care, but has no pathway to continuing care in the community.

Smith says six patients in Edmonton filled beds for a combined total of 6,570 days, or 18 years, after they were medically ready for discharge.

“That is unacceptable,” said Smith. “It wasn’t fair for those patients, and it wasn’t fair to Albertans.”

Smith said if those beds had been available, 1,000 Albertans could have received acute care sooner.

As the province’s population continues to age, it is projected that Alberta’s population of 850,000 seniors will increase to more than one million by the year 2035. Ninety per cent of continuing care home residents are seniors.

There are currently about 30,000 provincially funded continuing care home spaces in Alberta. Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon says the investment announced Wednesday will allow the province to build an additional 1,500 continuing care spaces. He says 1,400 new continuing care spaces are already under construction across the province.

“We know we need 12,000 to 15,000 new spaces added in the next 10 years alone, and we are committed to building all those spaces and ensuring these facilities are well staffed,” said Nixon. “Today is another big step in that process.”

Wednesday’s announcement comes as health-care organizations across the province continue to raise alarms about workforce shortages.

Bill 11, legislation outlining a dual-practice model for certain physicians in the province, was passed Wednesday afternoon. The government says Bill 11 will also result in a substantial increase in capacity.

“Currently, if we move to a model where there’s a second private stream, we’re not going to create more physicians. We’re going to change who has access to them,” said Friends of Medicare executive director Chris Gallaway.

Other investments outlined in the strategy include supports to strengthen kinship care and a new assisted living navigation portal.