Alberta’s Bold Shift: Prioritizing Recovery and Real Solutions Over Endless Harm Reduction

Alberta Leads with Recovery, Treatment, and Citizen-Centered Housing

December 12th, 2025 - Jason LaFace

As Canada grapples with a homelessness and addiction crisis that has left citizens exposed to brutal winters and skyrocketing overdose risks, Alberta stands out for its pragmatic, results-driven approach. Under Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative government, the province has pivoted toward the Alberta Recovery Model—a framework emphasizing treatment and long-term support over the federal Liberals' and NDP-favored "harm reduction" strategies that have funneled billions into programs with little to show for it.

Launched in 2023, the model builds on evidence that recovery-oriented care can save lives without perpetuating dependency. Early indicators are promising: Alberta led the nation with a 38% decline in opioid-related deaths in 2024 compared to 2023, more than double the national average of 17%. The first five months of 2025 continued this trend, with fewer deaths than the prior year. In Lethbridge, once Alberta's overdose hotspot, fatal overdoses dropped to just six in the first seven months of 2025—the lowest in a decade. This isn't coincidence; it's the fruit of rejecting Ottawa's one-size-fits-all ideology in favor of targeted, compulsory interventions when lives hang in the balance.

The "Harm Reduction" Mirage: Billions wasted, Harms multiplied

The term "harm reduction" implies a decrease in damage—but where's the evidence? Since 2017, the federal government has poured over $800 million into the Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP), funding more than 460 projects, many through progressive non-profits and municipal partners that prioritize needle distribution and safe supply over pathways to sobriety. Yet overdose deaths have climbed nationally, with 8,459 in 2023 alone.

In British Columbia, the NDP's 2023 decriminalization pilot—backed by Trudeau's Liberals—promised to curb harms but delivered mixed results at best. Deaths dipped slightly in 2024 (28% lower in early 2025 vs. 2024), but hospitalizations rose 58% post-decriminalization, and rates remain high with no clear causal link to the policy. Toronto's supervised consumption sites, once hailed as progressive wins, numbered 10 before Ontario's 2024 closures reduced them amid community backlash and persistent street disorder.

These programs, often run by left-leaning non-profits receiving millions in grants from Ottawa and municipal allies, have ballooned bureaucracy while encampments grow and deaths persist. Alberta wisely banned most "safer supply" prescriptions in 2022, focusing instead on evidence-based recovery. It's time the rest of Canada follows suit—compassion demands results, not rhetoric.

Federal Housing fiascos: Refugees housed while Canadians freeze

While Alberta charts its own course, the Trudeau Liberals' housing policies exacerbate the crisis for everyday citizens. Federal fast-tracking of infill and multiplex projects—low-rise developments in urban cores—has prioritized newcomers and refugees, leaving Canadians on waitlists to brave the cold. In Calgary, the 2024 Housing Accelerator Fund unlocked $228 million for initiatives like missing-middle infills, but priorities skew toward federal resettlement goals. Nationally, $426 million in 2023-2024 went to asylum housing, with provinces like Alberta receiving portions amid surging arrivals.

This isn't equity—it's neglect. As of 2025, federal commitments exceed $65 billion under the National Housing Strategy, yet vulnerable Canadians suffer: Edmonton's frostbite amputations hit 110 last winter, a record high, while Calgary saw 65. Nationally, nearly 60,000 experience homelessness nightly, with unsheltered rates up 88% since 2020.

Refugees get subsidized keys; citizens get tents. Alberta's per-capita homelessness rate has stabilized or declined amid population growth, but federal policies strain resources, forcing provinces to pick up the slack.

Alberta leads with recovery, treatment, and citizen-centered housing

Alberta isn't waiting for Ottawa—it's acting decisively.

• Recovery communities in action: Four of 11 planned communities are operational in Red Deer, Lethbridge, Gunn, and Calgary, adding over 200 beds for holistic, 90-day-plus treatment. The remaining seven, including five Indigenous-led sites, open by 2027, serving 2,000 annually. These zero-tolerance facilities emphasize therapy, skills-building, and cultural healing—far from the revolving door of harm reduction.

• Compulsory care with safeguards: The 2025 Compassionate Intervention Act enables family, police, or professionals to petition for judicial treatment orders for those endangering themselves. While new and controversial, it aligns with mixed evidence from drug courts showing 30% retention rates nationally—better than voluntary models alone. Facilities like the two 150-bed centers ($180 million investment) prioritize stabilization over punishment.

• Housing that puts Albertans first: No formal "Canadians First" quota exists, but Alberta's $1.2 billion over three years targets 6,300 low-income units, emphasizing locals via the Affordable Housing Partnership Program. A March 2025 federal-provincial pact injects $35 million into unsheltered initiatives in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Red Deer, funding temporary transitions from streets to transitional homes. This contrasts Ottawa's refugee-focused spending ($1.1 billion for Interim Housing Assistance in 2024-2027), ensuring Albertans aren't sidelined.

• Retraining for real jobs: The $15 million Apprenticeship and Trades Training Initiative funds 650 seats over three years, covering tuition, stipends, and childcare for post-treatment workers entering pipelines, trucking, and healthcare. Broader $33 million in Training for Work programs aids 5,000+ underemployed Albertans, including re-education for degrees or certifications. Federal partnerships add $2.9 million for trades.

A blueprint for Canada: End the surrender, embrace recovery

Alberta's model proves conservative principles work: personal responsibility, tough love when needed, and government as enabler of self-reliance. Homelessness counts rose to 3,121 in Calgary (2024) and 2,519 in Edmonton (2022), but per-capita rates fell 13% since 2008 amid growth—progress amid challenges. No more amputations from frostbite (110 in Edmonton last winter), no more ignored cries—Alberta measures success by lives rebuilt, not grants dispensed.

The Liberals and NDP can keep their virtue-signaling status quo. Alberta chooses victory: mandatory low-income builds, street-to-home directives, retraining ladders. It's time Canada puts citizens first—before another winter claims more limbs, more lives, more dignity. Follow Alberta. Fight for recovery.