Autopsy upgrade: Alberta spending $125M on new facility for chief medical examiner

The Government of Alberta's medical examiner building in Edmonton on Nov. 5, 2023. (Craig Ellingson/CTV News Edmonton)

Alberta is investing more money to investigate how people die.

As a result of the growing population in the province, the government is investing $125 million over four years for a new facility for the office of the chief medical examiner (OCME) in Edmonton.

The new facility will also offer expanded laboratory storage capacity, specialized space for examinations and autopsies, and the ability to respond to mass casualty events.

The money is part of Budget 2026, which also provides $4.4 million to replace and upgrade toxicology equipment to improve the detection of new and emerging synthetic drugs.

The new equipment will also improve identifying and measuring alcohol, drugs, and opioids in deceased people.

“By building a new Edmonton facility and upgrading the tools used by our forensic experts, we are strengthening a service that Albertans rely on in some of their most difficult moments, helping families get more timely answers, supporting the justice system and maintaining the highest standards of medical examiner services,” Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery said in a news release.

The province says Alberta’s population has more than doubled since the existing facility was built in 1983.

It’s expected construction on the new facility will take four years.

The toxicology lab in Edmonton also provides services to the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in certain cases.