after the passing of the "sexual sterilization act" of alberta (ssaa) in 1928, the provincial training school (pts) oversaw and performed the sterilizations of over 2,800 persons to improve society by preventing the genetic transmission of undesirable traits as well as to protect unfit individuals from the burdens of parenthood. other albertan facilities that also performed similar procedures were the alberta hospital in ponoka and the oliver mental hospital in edmonton.