Calgary Crisis: Compassionate Care Law Falls Short

CALGARY — A 90-year-old woman is trapped in her own home, caring for a son she can't save. He's 66, weighs roughly 100 pounds at 6'2", can't walk, and is dying of cirrhosis in a room he won't leave. She needs a retirement home. He needs intervention. Neither can move because he keeps saying no.

The family has tried hospitals. They've tried the Senior Connect program. Every door closed with the same answer: He has to want help. Even when the help is clearly the only thing keeping him alive.

It's the kind of standoff that makes you wonder what the system is actually built for—because right now, it's built to watch.

New Law, Old Problem

In May 2025, Alberta passed the Compassionate Intervention Act, replacing the old Protection of Children Abusing Drugs Act. The new law lets family members, cops, or healthcare workers petition for a treatment order when someone with addiction is spiraling. Sounds like exactly what this family needs.

Except there's a catch. Adults deemed mentally capable still get to refuse. And unless a court strips that capacity through the Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act (AGTA)—a slow, expensive legal slog—the person in crisis holds all the cards. Even when they can't stand up.

The Alberta Medical Association and the Canadian Bar Association aren't thrilled with the Compassionate Intervention Act either. They've flagged concerns about re-traumatizing patients, ethical landmines, and a system already drowning in people who want treatment but can't get a bed.

Money Moves, Beds Later

The province is throwing cash at the problem. Alberta Budget 2025 dropped $3.8 billion into operating costs for the new Assisted Living Alberta (ALA) agency, which launched April 1, 2025, and is supposed to hit full speed by fall. Another $180 million over three years will fund two 150-bed compassionate intervention centres in Calgary and Edmonton—though construction won't start until 2026.

That's a lot of zeroes. But none of it helps today. Not for this family. Not for the over 1,000 seniors who called Unison's Elder Abuse Resource Line in 2025, many of whom have nowhere safe to go. Unison went public on January 20, 2026, begging for more resources and pointing out the obvious: There aren't enough shelters for fleeing seniors.

Meanwhile, a 2025 report from the Protection for Persons in Care program logged a threefold spike in founded abuse allegations in continuing care facilities. The most common charge? Failure to provide the necessities of life. The irony is sharp enough to cut.

Programs That Exist (On Paper)

Calgary has rolled out funding. In January 2025, the city's Family & Community Support Services gave the Calgary Seniors' Resource Society $452,564 for its SeniorConnect Program and $315,273 for The Way In Program, which does outreach for older adults. The money covers 2025 through 2028.

There's also the Elder Abuse Response Team (EART), a joint effort between Calgary Police, Carya, and Unison at Kerby Centre. They investigate cases. They document harm. But when the person being harmed—by themselves or circumstance—has legal capacity and says "no thanks," the team hits the same wall everyone else does.

The Wait

Jason Nixon is the Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services. Dan Williams handles Mental Health and Addiction. Both portfolios are stacked with plans, timelines, and budget line items that sound good in a press release.

But this family isn't waiting for a ribbon-cutting in 2026. They're waiting for someone to tell them what to do right now, when the law says their loved one gets to refuse care even as his body gives out and his mother can't leave.

The system has an answer for that. It's just not one anyone wants to hear.