Province says new portal will ease process for finding assisted living, continuing care

By ZOE MASON on February 19, 2026.

The Alberta government announced a new portal Wednesday that will streamline the process for finding and accessing assisted living and continuing care options across the province.

At a press conference Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon announced the launch of the Assisted Living Navigation Portal.

The online resource will offer step-by-step guides on intake processes for care facilities and will feature an interactive map to allow Albertans to browse continuing care homes and supportive living accommodations in their area.

Users can also complete a short questionnaire that will refer them to suggestions based on their needs.

“People are accustomed, when they go on a vacation, to go on a website and see the universe of hotels available in Puerto Vallarta. If they need rental housing, rental housing is available. Why couldn’t we do that for something as important as the final home for our seniors?” said Smith.

Nixon says the tool will be updated in the future to include application processes at the same site, and expanded to include affordable seniors housing options that are not continuing care facilities.

Smith said the announcement is part of a larger effort to address a long-term care capacity that has failed to keep up with demand.

She says the solution is moving toward “European-style” long-term care.

“There are fantastic examples in Scandinavia, for instance, Sweden a universal decentralized system with a mix of public and private providers. The Swedes encourage competition by putting a priority on user choice and person centred care, and we’re looking to them for inspiration,” said Smith.

Smith says the government has reduced alternative level of care patients – referred to colloquially as “bed blockers” – by 23 per cent since September, with the provincial average of 15 per cent now lower than the Canadian average.

Nixon says long-term ALC stays have been reduced by 65 per cent since October.

There are currently about 30,000 continuing care home spaces and more than 240 home and community care providers in Alberta.

Since 2019, the province has invested in the development of more than 3,00 0continuing care spaces – 2,200 are currently under construction and a further 1,500 will be funded by the $400-million continuing care investment announced by the government in December.

Roughly 865,000 seniors reside in Alberta, a number expected to surpass one million – comprising roughly 20 per cent of the population – by 2035.