Alberta has opened a call for organisations that can design, implement and deliver gambling treatment services for people experiencing gambling-related harms. The province says it wants coordinated, evidence-informed outpatient and virtual treatment and recovery supports, and it is looking for services that can respond to different levels of need and complexity.
As reported in July, Alberta opened its regulated online market with centralized self-exclusion and strict advertising rules already in place.
The new call leaves room for more intensive care as well. Alberta says applicants may propose services such as a 21-day residential programme, alongside information on geographic reach, partnerships, access pathways and how a service could be expanded over as long as three years.
The funding will come from Alberta’s regulated iGaming system. The province’s fact sheet says one per cent of gross gaming revenue is set aside for social responsibility programmes, while two per cent goes to First Nations initiatives and 20 per cent of net gaming revenue goes to the General Revenue Fund.
The government describes social responsibility as a foundational part of the market, and the ministry says the new programmes are meant to put some of the money generated by regulated gambling back into treatment, prevention and other support services. The call is also meant to complement help already available through Recovery Alberta and existing gambling helplines.
Alberta has not yet said how many organisations will receive funding or exactly how the new services will be structured. It says priority may go to applicants with intensity-based and innovative delivery models and strong measurement and evaluation capabilities.
There are two deadlines for would-be providers. An NDA must be signed and submitted by 24 August at 4:30 pm MDT, and completed application packages are due by 10 September at 4:30 pm MDT.
