The Calgary Drug Treatment Court has been in operation since 2007.
Providing the only community alternative to incarceration for individuals whose crimes are driven by drug-addiction.
CDTC is an evidence-based program that integrates court intervention and treatment services to end drug-driven crime and assist participants to return to family, work and community.
Our Philosophy
We know that when individuals whose criminal involvement is driven by drug-addition are provided with the right type and intensity of services, they can change their lives, often in remarkable and transformative ways.
CDTC provides weekly court intervention, addiction treatment, connection to resources, and a range of programming to address drug addiction and change the patterns of thinking that perpetuate criminal and addictive behavior.
CDTC also works closely with community partners to meet the complex needs of our participants and reduce the many social, health, mental health, and economic barriers to sustaining a positive and productive lifestyle.
Our History
Early efforts to establish a Drug Treatment Court (DTC) in Calgary were spurred by a serious and growing problem of drug-driven crime in the downtown core. In 2002, Justice Bill Pepler of the Calgary Provincial Court led a steering committee with the goal of opening a DTC in Calgary. Soon thereafter, Justice James Ogle took on the development of the program and in May 2007 he opened the Court. Justice Ogle remained the mentoring Justice in the Calgary Drug Treatment Court for 12 years.
In 2019, Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant became the mentoring Justice in the Calgary Drug Treatment Court. DC Justice Durant is the Judicial lead supporting the establishment of 5 new DTC programs across Alberta.
Our Vision
Safe communities free from the impact of drug-related crime.
Our Mission
To integrate justice, treatment and health services to empower offenders with substance-use disorder to restore their lives and become productive community members.
Our Values
We are visionary, collaborative, accountable and empowering. We proudly embody these core values in the work we do with our employees, our participants, our treatment and rehabilitative partners and our community.
We are Visionary
We leverage best practices from other drug treatment and problem-solving courts and build on continuous learning to consistently improve.
We are Collaborative
We collaborate with our partners to provide a continuum of services to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
We are Accountable
We leverage best practices from other drug treatment and problem-solving courts and build on continuous learning to consistently improve.
We are Empowering
We create an environment, a system, an approach, that enables individuals to function to their highest capacity.
Toward the end of my addiction, my parents would not talk to me anymore…I was not a good brother, I was just stealing everything. Now they are back in my life. We just bought a house together. I got my family back.
Program Graduate