Calgary long-term care workers file for unionization

Earlier this week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published their last new applications report for November 2025. In it was an application for union certification.

Local 8 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees filed the application on 18 November 2025 on behalf of workers employed by Compass Group Canada.

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.

It is this facility where the workers are trying to unionize.

The application summary written by the ALRB indicates that the certification, if approved, would apply to 87 workers employed in general support services. This 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.

The ALRB has schedule a hearing for this application. It is set for next Tuesday (2 December) and will be an opportunity for Compass Group to present arguments—if they have any—as to why they think these workers should not be able to unionize with CUPE 8.

However, since CUPE 8 already represents health care aides, recreation therapy assistants, and rehabilitation assistants at AgeCare’s Midnapore facility— although those workers are not employed by Compass Group—it is unlikely that there will be significant opposition at the hearing.

In Alberta, unions must show 40% support from workers before applying for union certification. In this case, that would be 35 workers.

Should the ALRB approve the application, they will hold a certification vote, during which time, the nearly 90 workers employed by Compass Group will get to democratically choose whether to unionize.

Assuming the 35 workers who showed initial support decide to follow through and vote for unionization, they would need to convince another 9 of their fellow workers to do the same, in order to win.

If the workers vote to unionize and the ALRB awards them their certification, one of their first orders of business will be to form a bargaining committee to begin negotiating their first collective agreement.

Because the ALRB does not archive their new application reports, I have included a copy of this week’s report below for you convenience.