Four recommendations were issued following fatality inquiry into death of Deborah Onwu
A union representing Alberta care workers says the provincial government is failing to act on four safety recommendations stemming from the fatal stabbing of Calgary care worker Deborah Onwu, leaving front-line staff exposed in high‑risk environments.
Onwu, 47, was working an overnight shift at a Woods Homes Society residence in October 2019 when she was stabbed 19 times by 18‑year‑old client Brandon Newman, who had complex needs and a documented history of violence. That history, including a previous aggravated assault conviction, was not fully disclosed to Woods Homes when Newman was transferred to their care.
Following Onwu’s death, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) requested a fatality inquiry. The inquiry, led by Justice Karim Z. Jivraj, released four recommendations on September 18, 2025, calling for legislative changes to make care workers safer.
CUPE Alberta president Raj Uppal says that as the fall sitting of the Alberta Legislature winds down, none of those recommendations has appeared on the government’s legislative agenda.
“We have not seen any commitment from them. We have not seen any responses from them. It is not on the paper order for discussion for this legislative session,” Uppal said in an interview.
Inquiry focused on violence‑risk and OHS gaps
The inquiry’s four recommendations seek to address information‑sharing and regulatory gaps in care environments where client behaviour is a primary hazard. They call for mandatory inter‑agency hazard disclosure, stronger worker right‑to‑know provisions on clients’ violent histories, public guardianship for certain cognitively impaired individuals aging out of care, and sector‑specific occupational health and safety standards for behavioural‑risk settings.
In earlier comments to Canadian Occupational Safety, CUPE national health and safety coordinator Troy Winters said the inquiry showed that a lack of clear legal requirements for information sharing and hazard communication contributed to the circumstances of Onwu’s death. He also noted that Woods Homes was in compliance with Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act at the time, which he argued highlights shortcomings in the legislation itself.
Uppal made a similar point.
“Just the fact that the employer was following the current legislations that are in place…they were not in violation of anything when this incident happened. But it just clearly shows that our legislation is not…able to protect workers,” she said.
CUPE cites past OHS rollbacks
CUPE Alberta says its doubts about new safety legislation are rooted in the United Conservative Party (UCP) government’s broader approach to occupational health and safety.
“We’re going to…continue to push and hope for something to be on the table for the next session. But we’re not very optimistic with UCP simply because when UCP first came in power, they actually stripped the OHS legislation,” Uppal said, but notes the NDP later made changes to restore strength in Alberta OHS regulations.
Front‑line conditions remain “very threatening”
For workers in facilities like the one where Onwu was killed, Uppal describes the safety reality as fragile.
“It’s very threatening. And a lot of members actually at Woods Home were taken back. And you can imagine the trauma of a very senior, well‑trained…co‑worker that they lost,” she said.
Violent incidents remain frequent despite training efforts, she added.
“These incidents happen quite often and quite regularly. And, you know, violence is not part of the job and we do enough education training, but it is still quite fearful for them,” Uppal said.
Access to accurate information about a client’s past behaviour is a central concern.
“Every worker has a right to know what they’re walking into. Why should they not know the violence history when that’s the biggest threat that there is?” she said.
Government says recommendations under review
The Alberta government says it is examining the inquiry’s findings and has recently invested in safety measures at care facilities.
In comments reported by the Calgary Herald, Hunter Baril, press secretary for Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Minister Joseph Schow, said in a statement that the recommendations are “under review to determine if changes are needed to occupational health and safety legislation.”
Baril also said Children and Family Services invested more than $650,000 in November to help around 50 agencies operating care facilities “to help create safer work environments for front-line staff and children and youth in their care.” He added that “Children and Family Services will continue to review training and adjust policy to make the necessary adjustments and ensure the ongoing safety of workers.”
CUPE says those measures fall short.
“Deborah’s death was very preventable. And this government has the duty to act, and their inaction in just putting more lives at risk by not introducing legislation sooner than later is just not acceptable,” Uppal said.
She said the union has provided the government with draft legislative language based on the inquiry’s four recommendations.
“We’ve gone a step further to provide a drafted legislation that the UCP can adopt immediately without wasting time,” Uppal said.
“CUPE will continue to fight until the province implements these recommendations and ensure that there’s no care workers left alone and unprotected and unaware of the dangers that they face,” she added.
