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 2 July 2026.
I thought I would report on 6 certificates that the ALRB issued in June 2026.
Aster Joint Venture Limited Partnership
The first certificate issued by the ALRB last month was for about 18 nursing workers in Calgary.
The employer is Aster Joint Venture Limited Partnership, a partnership between AgeCare and Axium Infrastructure, a Montreal-based portfolio investment firm. Based in Calgary, AgeCare manages over 50 aging-in-place facilities in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.
This partnership, formed in 2021, shares ownership of 5 of AgeCare’s facilities: Sagewood, Seton, Skypointe, Sunrise Gardens, and Walden Heights.
That second one—Seton—employs 18 workers in direct nursing or nursing instruction positions, and it is these workers who received the certificate.
The United Nurses of Alberta filed the certification application on 22 May 2026.
The ALRB approved the certification on 11 June 2026.
UNA already had collective agreements with AgeCare for workers employed at their Midnapore, Skypoint, and Valleyview facilities.
The UNA also managed to unionze the Walden Heights workers last November, although they still do not have a collective agreement.
Russel Metals Inc.
The next certification came 6 days later when the ALRB approved workers employed by Russel Metals Inc. as a bargaining unit.
Local 1-207 of United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, also known as the United Steelworkers, filed the application on 3 March 2026.
The employer is Russel Metals Inc. Based out of Ontario, they are one of the largest metals distribution and processing companies in North America. They have several locations in Alberta, including one in Edmonton and one in Nisku.
Prior to this new certification, Local 1-207 represented workers at the Edmonton location. This certification expands the bargaining unit to include workers at the employer’s location in nearby Nisku.
USW also represents workers at Russel Metals’ Calgary plant.
Edmonton workers settled their current collective agreement in May 2025, and Calgary workers settled theirs last October, which expires next summer.
SunHills Mining Limited Partnership
Speaking of the Steelworkers, more of their members got a certification last month.
The ALRB issued their union certification on the 19th.
These workers were employed by SunHills Mining Limited Partnership at their Highvale Mines location. Technically, these workers had been unionized with USW since 2013, but the local changed from Local 1595 to Local 5220.
This certificate is simply an update to reflect the change in union local.
For your information, the certificate—as the previous one had done—covers all workers at Highvale Mines except those in office, clerical, designated technical, or foreperson positions.
The Town of High River
Firefighters employed by The Town of High River received a union certificate on 24 June 2026.
Previously, these firefighters, like all the municipal workers in High River, were represented by the Town of High River Employee Association.
The International Association of Fire Fighters filed their application on 4 March 2026 in behalf of nearly 50 High River firefighters.
This was not the first time that IAFF has represented firefighters in a separate bargaining unit. This practice has already occurred in Airdrie, Calgary, Canmore, Chestermere, Cochrane, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Grande Prairie County, Leduc, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Okotoks, Red Deer, Rocky View County, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Strathcona County, and Wood Buffalo.
The certificate makes High River firefighters the 20th IAFF bargaining unit in Alberta.
Canlin Energy Corporation
On the 25th, the ALRB issued a certificate to general construction workers employed by Canlin Energy Corporation.
Based out of Calgary, Canlin specializes in extracting methane gas, otherwise known as natural gas.
I do not have a record of when these workers filed for union certification, but I wrote a story last year regarding a similar certification by the same union: Unifor. That group belongs to Local 1400; the new group are members of Local 508-A.
The new certificate covers all Canlin workers employed at the company’s Hanlon-Robb gas plant, except those in office, clerical, or technical positions.
The most recent collective agreement for the Local 1400 workers, who are employed at the company’s Wildcat Hills gas plant, expired this past January.
Rotaflow Construction and Maintenance Inc.
The final certificate issued by ALRB last month came on the 26th.
It was for workers employed by Rotaflow Construction and Maintenance Inc.
With offices in Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Rotaflow provides commercial and industrial fire protection and utilities solutions.
Local 488 of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada filed their certification application in November 2024.
The new bargaining unit includes 11 maintenance electricians, although the 20 applications Local 488 originally submitted were for “fire alarm technicians”, “non-construction fire alarm technicians”, “general construction fire alarm technicians”, and “maintenance fire alarm technicians”.
In all of the above cases—well except Russel and Sunhills workers, who already have a collective agreement—the next step for these workers will be to elect a bargaining committee to begin negotiating their first collective agreement;.
