Province supports seniors housing

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With the population of Alberta inexorably moving towards breaching one million seniors, the Provincial Government is taking greater strides towards making supported housing more accessible.

An announcement was made March 12, committing an additional $200 million for the construction and renovation of seniors’ lodge facilities across the province. 

Jason Nixon, minister of assisted living and social services, estimated the senior population within Alberta will cross the million-person threshold by 2035.

“Alberta’s government works closely with our partners to support seniors’ access to housing in our province and to keep up with the growing demand. This is especially true in rural communities that may not have the same access to senior housing,” said Nixon. “We have heard from Albertans time and time again that they want to age in the communities that they call home and that they have helped build.”

Over 25,000 provincially subsidized units specifically for housing seniors currently operate in Alberta. Another 30,000 subsidized long-term care and continuing care spaces are primarily utilized by senior populations.

The $200 million earmarked for seniors’ lodges is being made available through the Seniors Lodge Modernization Program, aiming to support over 1,000 seniors’ living units. 

The province anticipates the intake for Seniors Lodge Modernization Program applications to open this fall but did not provide an exact implementation timeline.

Glenn Koester, chair of the Wheatland Housing Management Board, said prior to the announcement, the board had not heard any word from the province regarding the implementation of the program. 

“Staff up in Edmonton, they reach out to our administrators at the office probably a week or two before if there is anything for us,” he said. “If there is a new component to it, I haven’t heard about it before, so I’m still not sure what the new component is exactly … or what we will be applying for.”

Koester suggested that the Wheatland Housing Management Board would be reaching out to the Alberta Seniors and Community Housing Association following their next board meeting for more information and clarification about the new program.

Conversations regarding the proposed new lodge in Strathmore have been ongoing since 2020, with support being gathered from several surrounding municipalities. Local senior populations are anticipated to nearly double scaling from 2019 census numbers estimated until 2029.

The Wheatland Housing Management Board has failed multiple times in their application to receive funding from the province to support the build – without which, it is unable to continue.

The last notification of an unsuccessful application was delivered to the WHMB in July 2025. Since then, the board has been awaiting the next funding application window and aiming to advance the classification of its project budget.