Addiction transitional housing facility potentially coming to a small town in Alberta

Barrhead, northwest of Edmonton, is home to just over 4,000 people. It could be home to a new transitional housing facility for addicts who have completed a treatment program.

“As they come out of treatment, they then have a transitional facility, which is a short stay, and the purpose for that is to get people re-integrated back into the community,” said Costa Ndlovu, a mental health and addictions counsellor with the Best Options Health Centre.

Best Options Health Centre received a development permit to open the facility in Barrhead. It will have a 20-person capacity that focuses on an Indigenous population.

Residents and business owners have raised a red flag, saying the proposed location is a problem. The Red Baron Inn sits on the corner of the town’s main street.

“It’s our downtown area, which is business-driven. For me, there’s a bar across the street, and there’s a children’s dance studio across the street. For me, it’s not the proper place for transitional housing for addicts to be,” said Kyle Baker, a store manager and Barrhead resident.

The project was approved as a discretionary use, which meant Barrhead’s town council did not vote on it. Approval came from the unelected municipal planning commission.

The requested facility will have surveillance cameras, on-site supervision, and mandatory quiet hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., but that’s not enough for some business owners.

“It’s like any small town, it’s just a very, very close, vibrant community where pretty much everybody knows everybody. And I can’t say that’s how we want it to stay, because growth needs to happen in every town. But it needs to be growth that’s appropriate for the town. You can’t just throw whatever you think is going to work in this town, in the town,” said Baker.

The province has made it clear that its approach to addictions is a recovery-first model, which transitional housing sites support.

While residents and business owners are concerned about the location of the proposed site in such a small town, places like Best Options Health Services say that larger centers are not always a financially viable option.

“You cannot get the property that we’re looking at at the same price as you get in bigger cities,” said Ndlovu.

The facility in Barrhead would be the first transitional housing facility by the company leading it — Best Options Health Services.

While the organization searches for funding, it picked Barrhead because of the lifestyle small-town living provides.

“The reasoning behind that is gradual reintegration back to the community, when someone is coming out of treatment, it is less overwhelming, and yet it provides the amenities that are needed,” said Ndlovu.

Legally, the town’s residents have no recourse. Many have sent letters and signed petitions that will be shared with the developer, who also plans to host community engagement and information sessions.

“When treatment in a licensed, regulated facility has been completed, that person is now like you and me. They can live anywhere else. And we want to provide that extra layer of support which most people don’t get when they leave a treatment facility,” said Ndlovu.

Baker added, “These centres need to be around. Never a question about that. If someone wants to get clean or needs help with their mental health, hugely important, probably the most important thing. But it’s all about location.”