Construction has officially begun on a new mental-health facility in Calgary that will serve youth with complex mental illnesses. The facility, operated by the charitable non-profit CASA Mental Health, will provide 57 inpatient beds and treat 24 adolescent day patients suffering from depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and bipolar disorder.
Facility Details and Timeline
The centre is being built on a 3.81-acre site within The District in Stoney industrial business park, located at the southwest corner of 11th Street and 110th Avenue N.E. The project is led by Clark Builders and is slated to open in 2027, with referrals expected to begin later that year.
Once operational, the facility will employ approximately 40 staff members, including mental-health therapists, behaviour specialists, psychiatrists, therapy support navigators, nurses, and support staff. These professionals will provide comprehensive wraparound services for families.
Funding and Provincial Support
The facility is partly funded by a $75-million investment announced by the Alberta government in 2025 for three new facilities in Calgary, Fort McMurray, and Medicine Hat. This investment is part of a broader provincial effort to expand mental-health services, including CASA's school-based programs launched in 2024 that offer individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatric care for younger students with complex needs.
Bonnie Blakley, CEO of CASA Mental Health, emphasized the growing need for such services. "As a mom and health-care leader, I see firsthand how many young people and their families are struggling with significant mental illness," she said in a statement. "This growing need drives CASA to expand our circle of care so more medical and therapeutic treatment options are available closer to home, when and where they're needed."
Program Structure and Family Support
Blakley explained that students will reside at the centre for a semester, attending high school during the day and returning to the facility in the evenings. "We follow those kids for almost two months once they leave us back in their communities," she said in a previous interview.
CASA's services are specifically designed for families who are not involved with the justice or child and family service systems, and therefore cannot access residential psychiatric services. "Families have said that's ridiculous," Blakley noted. "We don't need to give our children up or have them commit a crime before we get a service. We need it."
Addressing a Growing Crisis
A 2023 report by the University of Calgary found that mental illness now affects one in every four Canadian youth. One of the report's authors, Jennifer Zwicker, director of health policy at the School of Public Policy, highlighted that many children are falling through the cracks due to Alberta's lack of a unified strategy. She described the current approach as a "haphazard, patchwork approach to tracking patient outcomes, identifying trends, and referring patients to services."
The new facility aims to fill this gap by providing specialized care closer to home for youth and their families.
