AUDIO/VIDEO – OH CANADA –
Oct. 24, 2025 – Quebec and Alberta are only provinces that provide some regulation for all private facilities. After past struggles with alcohol, she was battling prescription drug addiction and neurological symptoms from Lyme disease. The LA resident knew she needed a treatment centre with specialized care to help her situation. Bogen’s mother searched online and came across a privately owned residential treatment centre operated by Nomina Wellness on Vancouver Island. But what seemed like an answer to their problems turned into an ordeal. They say they were promised a tailored treatment plan, one-on-one care and five-star service, at a cost of more than $30,000 for three weeks of care. But it never materialized.
This Nomina treatment facility and another in Courtenay, B.C., were the sites of several troubling issues, including the overdose death of a 27-year old man in October 2024. The Bogens’ story highlights a problem across much of Canada: for-profit, privately owned residential substance use treatment facilities operate with little government regulation or oversight, which critics say puts the lives of patients at risk.
