The institution later known as the Michener Centre began as the Provincial Training School (PTS) for Mental Defectives in Red Deer, Alberta, created as part of a system designed to institutionalize people labelled as intellectually disabled (Muir, 46). After the original training school in Edmonton was converted into a psychiatric hospital, the Red Deer facility opened in 1923 to accommodate increasing demand for institutional care (Muir, 46). By the late 1920s, the number of applicants exceeded available space, with more than 700 children waiting for admission, leading to expansions of the facility in 1928 and again in 1930 (Muir, 47). The institution organized residents into gender-segregated wards that included dormitories, dining areas, playrooms, offices, and medical spaces, reflecting its role as both a residential and controlled medical environment (Muir, 37). Life inside the PTS involved strict supervision, medical treatment, and institutional routines, and many residents were subjected to medical decisions without explanation or consent (Muir, 40). Because residents were frequently assessed under Alberta’s eugenics policies, the institution became closely connected to the province’s sterilization program and the work of the Eugenics Board (Muir, 144). In 1977, after broader changes in attitudes toward institutionalization and disability care, the facility was renamed the Michener Centre, marking a shift in public identity while maintaining continuity with its earlier institutional history (Muir, 47).
Sources:
Muir, Leilani. A Whisper Past: Childless after Eugenic Sterilization in Alberta. FriesenPress, 2014. Google Play Books.