At a Glance - Week of April 23, 2024
Alberta to Establish Two New Health Organizations
As part of the province’s refocusing of health care delivery, Alberta announced it will be creating two new organizations focused on mental health and addictions services. Recovery Alberta will be responsible for taking over the delivery of these services from Alberta Health Services. The province is also establishing the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE), a public body that will “support Alberta’s government in building recovery-oriented systems of care by researching best practices for recovery from around the world, analyzing data and making evidence-based recommendations.”
In the province’s press release, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Dan Williams wrote “Alberta is leading the country with the development of the Alberta Recovery Model to address mental health and addiction challenges. The establishment of these two new organizations will support the delivery of recovery-oriented services to Albertans and will further cement Alberta as a leader in the field. We are proud to establish Recovery Alberta and CoRE as part of the Alberta Recovery Model.”
Funding Awarded for Regional Airports
The provincial government has announced that it is investing $1.13 million to develop a number of regional airports across Alberta. The money will be used to aid in “developing business cases and feasibility studies for improved airport infrastructure and air transportation.”
Funding for the ten airports listed range in value from $56,000 to $150,000 to assist with the various needs of each airport. The airports that will benefit from the funding include Cold Lake, Whitecourt, Lloydminster, Peace River, Lethbridge, High Level, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, and Fort McMurray.
Arts Commons Expansion Displayed
Albertans got a sneak peak into what the finished product of the country’s largest arts-focused infrastructure project will look like. Located in Calgary’s Olympic Plaza, Arts Commons secured funding to help revitalize their existing building while also constructing a new building. Part of the project includes a 1,000-seat theatre and a 200-seat studio – both of which will be included in the first phase of construction.
Ground breaking is expected to occur this year with completion estimated to happen in time for the 2028-29 season. Arts Commons president and CEO Alex Sarian said “Today, we don't just reveal a stunning new design, we come together to celebrate the fact that the largest cultural infrastructure project currently underway in Canada is truly and uniquely Calgarian.”
British Columbians Flocking to Alberta
A new Statistics Canada report shows that more and more British Columbians are choosing to move to our province. In 2023, it was reported that 67,944 residents of British Columbia migrated out of the province – the first net-migration loss for our neighbours since 2012. Of those who left, about 37,650 move to their immediate neighbour to the east.
The news is part of a larger story – that being Alberta experiencing “the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data became available in 1972. Last year, Alberta saw a net increase of 55,107 new residents from interprovincial migration – dwarfing the combined totals of the other net-positive jurisdictions.