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 1 September 2026.
I thought I would report on 4 certificates that the ALRB issued in August 2026.
Charis Seniors Residence Limited Partnership
The first certificate issued by the ALRB last month was for about 30 workers in Sherwood Park.
The employer is Charis Seniors Residence Limited Partnership, which the official business name of Aster Gardens.
The Alberta Union filed the certification application on 14 July 2026 for all workers employed in so-called auxiliary nursing care, which typically include licensed practical nurses and health care aides. Their application said it was for over 50 workers.
The ALRB approved the certification on 6 August 2026.
These workers met last week for the first time since unionizing to get to know each other and begin planning for negotiating their new collective agreement.
The Good Samaritan Society
The next certification came the next day when the ALRB approved workers employed by The Good Samaritan Society as a bargaining unit.
Good Samaritan Society, together with Good Samaritan Canada, provides care homes and programmes that serve over 7,000 individuals across Alberta and British Columbia.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees has represented workers employed by The Good Samaritan Society in their persons with developmental disabilities programme since 2005.
These more than 200 workers include team coordinators and community service workers at 16 group homes.
This application was to add workers at the Eastwood Group Home to the bargaining unit. There was no indication in the active certificates report regarding how many Eastwood workers are now unionized with AUPE.
The Brenda Strafford Foundation Ltd.
Less than a week later, the labour board approved the certification of workers employed by The Brenda Strafford Foundation Ltd.
Created in 1975, the foundation owns 5 facilities where about 1,200 workers provide long-term and assisted living care in Calgary and Okotoks.
On 9 June 2026, AUPE filed a certification application for 175 workers employed in “auxiliary” nursing care at the foundation’s Bow View Manor, a long-term care facility that can house up to 239 residents and is located in northwest Calgary.
AUPE already represents workers at the four other facilities owned by the foundation:
- Cambridge Manor
- Clifton House
- Tudor Manor
- Wentworth Manor
Workers at Tudor Manor unionized in May.
After a successful certification vote, ALRB approved these workers as a bargaining unit on 12 August 2026.
SMS Equipment Inc.
The final certificate issued by ALRB last month came on the 28th.
It was for workers employed by SMS Equipment Inc., a heavy equipment dealership, specializing in equipment for the construction, forestry, and mining industries, including oil and gas.
Local 707-A of Unifor filed the application on 28 July 2026 on behalf of just 4 workers.
Unifor has represented SMS Equipment workers since receiving their certificate in 2014. That certificate applies to all workers “at Fort McMurray locations except office, clerical and sales personnel”.
However, last year, they managed to expand this coverage to include over 400 workers employed at the Suncor Base Mine; in or out of the SMS’s location off of Highway 63; and in or out of any location in Ward One of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, including any business parks adjacent to Ward One.
This new certification expands the original bargaining unit to include all welding quality assurance inspectors working at the Suncor Base Mine, in or out of the Highway 63 location, and any location in Ward One of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
For some reason, these inspectors were not included in last year’s expansion.
In all four cases, workers will be busy trying to organize bargaining teams to begin negotiating their first collective agreements, or in the case of the Good Samaritan workers, their next one.
