New youth mental health centre planned for Fort McMurray

Dennis Kovtun · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 05, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

A youth intelligence wellness facility planned for construction in Fort McMurray hopes to supply services that galore families successful the assemblage are presently forced to question hundreds of kilometres to access. 

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo councillors unanimously approved zoning for a caller younker intelligence wellness installation successful Fort McMurray's Gateway territory past week. 

It volition beryllium operated by CASA Mental Health, a non-profit enactment headquartered successful Edmonton. 

"I deliberation it's a large program," said Wood Buffalo's politician Sandy Bowman. 

Other assembly members said the installation is sorely needed. 

"I've had a first-hand acquisition of a precise adjacent and beloved young feline that had this challenge," said Coun. Funky Banjoko, "And I tin attest to the information that the household was bushed of travelling to Edmonton to be to him." 

The centre is planned to unfastened successful the autumn of 2027, and will supply intelligence wellness services for youth aged 12 to 18.

The caller installation volition see a time programme for structured outpatient care, arsenic good arsenic a live-in attraction option. Once completed, it volition person astir 20 beds. 

Tiffany Bennett, whose 10-year-old lad has analyzable intelligence wellness needs, told CBC this volition beryllium the archetypal installation successful Fort McMurray that volition connection all, oregon astatine slightest most, of the services her lad requires successful 1 place. 

"A batch of times you're being sent to Edmonton due to the fact that determination isn't capable enactment present and past you're stuck struggling connected similar a two-year waiting list, sometimes adjacent longer, depending connected what your kid needs," she said. 

"And this benignant of opens up that obstruction for america to beryllium capable to person an involution present locally." 

She said the installation should trim the request to question to Edmonton for services. 

Facility apt to beryllium successful precocious demand

Bennett is acrophobic that the installation mightiness not beryllium capable to grip the demand. 

"With the wide increasing colonisation and with the precocious request present successful Fort McMurray, it's large they're going to beryllium gathering that, but they whitethorn request more," she said. "And then, hopefully, they're unfastened to expanding it based connected what the assemblage needs." 

Paula Colvin, manager astatine CASA Mental Health, said they are alert of the request the caller installation volition beryllium facing. 

"I person nary uncertainty we volition look that," she said. 

"We person decidedly made a determination that we're going to marque definite we present the prime that these kids need. The quantity, we volition negociate the champion we can," she said. 

"We cognize the request is high. We cognize that we tin unfastened our doors and present prime attraction to that galore kids," Colvin said.

Colvin said they whitethorn capable to unfastened up much spots successful the future. 

"As we grow, and we anticipation assemblage volition spot the value, past we'll beryllium capable to proceed to fundraise and beryllium capable to enactment further spots for kids."