Launch of Yukon government's Managed Alcohol Program delayed due to staffing

The Yukon government's Managed Alcohol Program still does not have a start date, as the hiring process continues to delay the launch of the program initially scheduled to begin this past spring in Whitehorse. 

Cameron Grandy, the Yukon government's director of mental wellness and substance abuse services said he cannot provide an exact start date for the program, but he is "very optimistic" that the program's staffing model will be finalized within the next week.

"I can tell you there's incredible interest. We had a lot of applicants," Grandy said. "It's a program that I think excites people who like working in the caring field because it's a new way to care for people."

Once the staffing model is finalized, Grandy said staff can begin working within two weeks and training will happen on the job. 

The Yukon government first announced the residential Managed Alcohol Program (MAP) in January 2024. The program will serve individuals who are living with treatment-resistant severe alcohol use disorder. In particular, it will focus on helping unhoused people and those living in poverty. The program is designed to help these individuals manage their symptoms in a setting that also allows them to enjoy other aspects of life, Grandy said. Caregivers will provide medically prescribed doses of alcohol along with health care and social services. 

NDP Leader Kate White is frustrated by the delayed start to the program. 

"Yukon has needed a managed alcohol program for decades," White said. "I have been told all the reasons why there is a delay, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating."

Once opened, the MAP will provide care at the former St. Elias Adult Group Home on Hoge Street in Whitehorse, which until this spring provided care to adults living with cognitive disabilities. Former residents of St. Elias were told in January that they would be moving out of the home. The last residents moved to different care homes in May. 

Brad Cathers, the Yukon Party's health and social services critic, said the party is disappointed in the government's decision to move St. Elias residents.

"The disruption in the lives of those long-term residents of that facility should have been avoided," Cathers said. "It was purpose built to serve those residents who have cognitive disabilities and designed to support them in their needs. The facility was certainly not designed for [the] Managed Alcohol Program."

According to Grandy, St. Elias' open floor plan and accessible rooms are suitable for the MAP. 

Prior to the announcement of the MAP program, St. Elias had already been looking for places with "more home-like environments" for its residents, Grandy said. 

White believes moving St. Elias residents was the right decision.

"The truth is that whether we like it or not, it was still an institutional setting and now folks are in more home based settings, which I think is good," White said.

When it opens the MAP will provide long-term care to up to 10 residents, with the goal of helping them transition back into the community or move into other treatment programs as needed.  

"I look forward to the dignity it's going to be able to provide folks and the support it's going to make available," said White. "It's not the solution … but it's a start."