Two videos. Two corrections vans. Two drop-offs in the same Edmonton neighbourhood.
Alberta's public safety minister says both were mistakes.
Mike Ellis said Friday that two recent cases of provincial corrections vans releasing former detainees in Edmonton's Chinatown came down to "human error."
"In both of those cases, it was human error," Ellis said. "We're all human beings."
Edmonton's mayor, Chinatown business owners and the president of Alberta Municipalities say the problem goes beyond two mistakes.
What the videos showed
The first surveillance video showed a provincial corrections van releasing a former detainee into a private parking lot on 105 Avenue between 97 and 98 streets on Sept. 3.
Then it happened again.
Footage from the evening of Friday, Sept. 11 showed a corrections van pull up outside Kim Fat Market in Chinatown and release at least seven people. They walked away after the van left.
Ellis says it isn't normal practice
Ellis said he was outraged when he learned what happened, and that the releases weren't the result of any directive from him.
He said dropping former detainees on city streets is not a common practice.
"This is what I am vehemently opposed to, is just dropping people off where they have no supports," he said.
Ellis previously served as Alberta's associate minister of mental health and addiction. He said the recovery system he worked on was built around a "warm handoff," connecting people directly to services.
He said Corrections Alberta will drive people where they need to go, including trips of several hours to their home communities.
Corrections Alberta has told him it will take measures to stop it from happening again. He didn't say what those measures are.
Edmonton says it's bigger than two drop-offs
Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack pressed Ellis on the issue Friday at the Alberta Municipalities convention.
"There's a disconnect from what is believed to be the actual process and what is actually happening in municipalities across this province," Knack said.
City councillor Anne Stevenson has said the city knows of at least a dozen people released into Edmonton in what she described as a state of "incredible vulnerability."
Knack has pointed to why Edmonton feels this more than most cities. It has eight correctional facilities, an unusually high concentration, and it's the northern Alberta hub for social services. People from across the region end up here.
"The disproportionate pressure that our city faces due to the concentration of these services means that we need a uniquely Edmonton approach," he said.
Chinatown says it's seen this before
For people who work in Chinatown, the videos landed on top of years of frustration.
The neighbourhood, centred on 97 Street just north of downtown, has spent more than a decade dealing with empty storefronts, falling foot traffic and rising concerns about safety. Business owners have repeatedly asked the city and province for help.
The low point came in May 2022, when two men in their 60s, Hung Trang and Ban Phuc Hoang, were killed in separate attacks in Chinatown on the same day. Their deaths became a rallying point for the community's calls for action.
So when a corrections van pulled up outside Kim Fat Market and released at least seven people, it didn't feel like an isolated incident to the people inside.
Kathryn Luu's family owns the market.
"Honestly it felt like it was a dumping ground," she told CityNews.
Karl Miu, vice-chair of the Chinatown Business Association, said the videos weren't a surprise.
"We hear about these incidents all the time," he said.
The association has asked the province to require formal discharge and reintegration plans for people leaving custody. The province says it has met with Chinatown representatives and is reviewing its practices.
Edmonton's police chief says the handoff is broken
Edmonton Police Chief Warren Driechel has called for a better handoff between institutions and service providers.
"People are getting dropped off around the corner from a shelter, hoping that that person will go to the shelter, or around the corner of a service provider, hoping that they'll go there," he said.
"Just shuffling one problem to another area is not the answer."
Driechel acknowledged Edmonton police sometimes take people to the area themselves, because that's where shelters and services are concentrated. But he said leaving someone nearby isn't the same as connecting them to help.
Police also aren't directly notified every time someone is released from provincial custody.
Why releases can come with little warning
About 80 per cent of people in provincial custody are on remand, according to Alberta's Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services. They're being held while awaiting trial or sentencing, not serving a sentence with a set end date.
That means release dates may not be known ahead of time. When a court orders someone released, they have to be let go.
The province says corrections staff work with people on release planning, but that unpredictable timing can complicate it.
It's not only Edmonton
Dylan Bressey, president of Alberta Municipalities and a Grande Prairie city councillor, said communities near correctional facilities across Alberta are seeing the same thing, including his own.
"They're getting unloaded on our city streets where there isn't adequate social services for them, and it's creating social chaos as well as costing a lot of money and police, fire, and parks response," he said.
He said councillors in several communities have shared similar stories, though there's no comprehensive data yet.
Asked about reports of similar releases in Grande Prairie, Ellis said he wasn't aware of them.
"For us, it's really important that when somebody is released from either care or prison, that they're released with a proper plan and the proper resources to help them be healthy and also receive whatever supervision or care they need going forward," Bressey said.
What happens next
Ellis and municipal leaders agree on the goal: people leaving custody should be connected to support, not left on a street corner.
They disagree on how often that's failing.
Corrections Alberta says changes are coming. It hasn't said what they are.
Sources
Alberta Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services, statement, September 2026
Comments from Mike Ellis, Andrew Knack and Dylan Bressey as reported by The Canadian Press, Global News and CBC News. Video details and comments from Kathryn Luu and Karl Miu as reported by CityNews Edmonton. Comments from Warren Driechel as reported by CityNews Edmonton and CBC News. Comments from Anne Stevenson as reported by CBC News.
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