The Alberta Labour Relations Board publishes a list of all the certificates they’ve issued for unionized workplaces in the province.
They update it every month, with the latest update being 6 January 2026.
I thought I would report on 3 certificates that the ALRB issued in December 2025.
Compass Group Canada Ltd.
The first certificate issued by the ALRB last month was for all workers employed by Compass Group Canada Ltd. when employed in general support services at AgeCare Midnapore.
Based in Ontario, Compass Group Canada is a foodservice and support services provider in over 2,200 locations across Canada, including a long-term care facility in the Midnapore area of Calgary and owned by AgeCare.
Local 8 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees filed the application on 18 November 2025 on behalf of over 80 workers employed by Compass Group Canada.
General support services typically includes those working in kitchens, housekeeping, maintenance, and so on.
For example, the workers at AgeCare in Calgary’s Walden neighbourhood are also employed by Compass Group (via their Marquise Hospitality division). They include kitchen staff, laundry workers, and housekeepers and are unionized with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.
Here’s a fun fact.
These workers actually used to belong to CUPE Local 8: back when AgeCare used to employ their GSS workers directly. Their last collective agreement under that representation expired in August 2023.
In an email to The Alberta Worker, Kelly Spence, the president of Local 8 said that this changed when AgeCare started contracting out GSS work.
When AgeCare outsourced all hospitality operations to Compass Group, the bargaining unit structure changed. Because the employer of record changed, CUPE was required to reorganize and re-establish representation for these already-unionized workers under the new employer.
According to Spence, of the workers at the Midnapore site who participated in last month’s certification vote, 94% chose to join Local 8. Clearly, they saw the value they received from belonging to CUPE previously.
“This level of support reflects just how eager these workers were to regain the protections, voice, and stability that come with a union particularly during a period of operational transition,” Spence added. “Many of these members have long histories at the site, and they were genuinely relieved to have the opportunity to restore their collective strength through formal representation again.”
The ALRB approved this certification on 8 December 2025.
2371281 Investment LP
Four days later, on the 12th, the ALRB issued a certificate for workers employed by 2371281 Investment LP.
Local 408 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees filed the application on 18 November 2025 on behalf of workers employed by 2371281 Investment LP.
This company is a subsidiary of Sienna Senior Living Inc., according to their 2024 annual report; although it’s listed as 2371281 Investment LP (Ontario).
Based out of Ontario, Sienna owns senior residences in BC, Ontario, and Alberta, including a 126-suite facility in Medicine Hat, which is where these workers are trying to unionize.
According to the application summary written by the ALRB, the certification is supposed to apply to over 120 workers employed at Medicine Hat Care Community.
Neither the application nor the active certificate records indicated what these workers do. but this typically includes licensed practical nurses, health care aides, and those working in kitchens, housekeeping, and maintenance.
Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 569
And the final certificate that the ALRB issued last month was given to workers employed by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569.
These workers will be represented by Local 1-207 of the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, also known as the United Steelworkers or just USW.
Local 569 of the ATU represents transit workers in Edmonton, Red Deer, Strathcona County, and St. Albert.
The workers who will be covered by this new certificate are those employed by Local 569 in their efforts to support transit workers in the communities mentioned above.
In the first new applications report of last month, the ALRB indicated that this bargaining unit would consist of 4 workers in “administrative, clerical, and custodial” positions.
This certificate approved a new bargaining unit as of 15 December 2025.
The next step for all the workers at all 3 workplaces will be to set up a bargaining committee to begin negotiating their first collective agreements.
