Location of Alberta’s new Youth Recovery Centre is problematic

On November 26, the Government of Alberta announced a $23 million renovation of the Edmonton Young Offender Centre in North Edmonton. The renovations will turn half the centre into a new Youth Recovery Centre for youth struggling with substance use disorder (SUD).

The facility is scheduled to open in mid-2026, and is expected to treat up to 300 young people in a year. That would add 105 beds to the 70 already present in the system. However, this isn’t the best way to treat youth struggling with SUD. Rather, the Government of Alberta should invest in developing a completely separate centre for youth with addiction. This would help ensure kids have a safe and comfortable environment to heal both mentally and physically.

Drug use among youth has been an increasing problem in Alberta. In 2016–17, 690 Albertans under the age of 18 reported using drugs in the past five years. A report by Terri Pelton, Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate, found that drug and alcohol abuse has become a driver of death in youths. According to Pelton, over the past seven years the number of Albertan youth dying from drug-related deaths has risen.

For youth with SUD, the location of the new Youth Recovery Centre will be hard to ignore. SUD is a mental illness, which directly affects one’s behaviour and the ability to control the use of legal or illegal substances. It’s important that youth see themselves as patients, and SUD as a treatable illness. If the Youth Recovery Centre is only separated from the corrections facility by a mere wall, this perception will be difficult to maintain.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) prohibits the confinement of people dealing with addiction, giving them some choice and control over their life. However, the Protection of Children Using Drugs (PChAD) Act allows for non-voluntary admission. This gives guardians the ability to take a child or adolescent to a Protective Safe House, where they may stay for up to 15 days. Many youth who visit the recovery centre will likely be there involuntarily. Between involuntary treatment and the location of the new recovery centre, this treats youth struggling with SUD near identically to young offenders.

Additionally, the facility will continue to be a jail after renovations. The space is wrapped with barbed razor wire fences and has corrections officers on every perimeter. The differentiation of the recovery facility from the offender centre is unclear — the building will be the same. This only reinforces the false equivalency of offenders and youth struggling with addiction. 

A broader concern lies in the fact that the building will still house young offenders. This could be potentially triggering for youth in recovery. They could come in contact with former drug dealers through potential air vents, hand signals, and the passing of notes. Interactions with violent offenders could also be of concern for those who have previously experienced violence. These interactions or even the mere possibility of them could delay or even destroy their progress. 

The location of the facility not only stigmatizes the disorder, but is also detrimental for the youth residing in it. The prison-like environment and treatment may cause a decline in their mental and physical health. Instead of facilitating recovery and reintegration, this could just cause more problems. 

Spending $23 million dollars to lump youth dealing with SUD and young offenders together doesn’t make sense. The Alberta government should focus its strength and money into creating an actual medical facility. A proper approach to this problem is urgent, as SUD only seems to be getting worse in Alberta.

We should treat youth struggling with SUD as patients, not as criminals. This includes providing treatment in a safe and unthreatening environment, which is essential for the recovery and reintegration of the youth into society. This new facility will likely fail to do any of that.