Alberta announces funding details for student mental health supports

Alberta's government says it is spending millions of dollars to address classroom complexities and mental health issues. Connor Hogg has the story.

The province has announced $69 million in funding over three years to its Mental Health and Well-Being Grant in an effort to address classroom complexity.

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The province said its investment will provide school boards with the resources needed to address the unique mental health needs of their students.

“Previously dedicated mental health funding was not provided to school divisions,” said Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides at a news conference Wednesday. “School divisions just came off a period where there was funding provided on a temporary pilot basis, there was no guarantee of that funding continuing.

“I think that’s a significant step forward in helping to address some of the challenges we see in our classrooms.”

Edmonton Catholic Schools trustee Sandra Palazzo extended her appreciation for the investment.

“When that investment strengthens the well-being of our students, it is truly music to our ears,” said Palazzo. “The flexibility offered through this grant allows school divisions to direct much needed funding, ensuring supports reach students in the most effective and timely ways.”

The funding for mental health supports comes from Budget 2025.

“This is money that was previously announced in Budget 2025 and we’re just getting a re-announcement of this in December 2025 under the guise of: ‘we’re going to address the complex needs in the Gresham report that came out last month.’ You should have already been doing this work,” said Alberta Teachers’ Association president Jason Schilling.

“We definitely need to see an increase to the supports for mental health funding in our classrooms and we also need to see teachers’ voices involved in these conversations ... and we need to see government act in a timely fashion.”

The announcement comes more than a month after the province used the notwithstanding clause to send teachers back to work after striking for three weeks and calling on the province to include classroom complexity measures into their collective bargaining agreement.

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Nicolaides said there were challenges in announcing the funding.

“Of course heading right out of budget in the spring and into summer, we were into really detailed collective bargaining negotiations and subsequently a strike, so it was challenging to find the right opportunity to be able to communicate the information,” he said.

Grant funding can be used on supports that address student well-being, social-emotional development and mental health. Examples include:

• training staff in social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, and violence threat risk assessment;
• hiring a navigator to connect students with external supports;
• bringing in wellness coaches or counsellors to provide in-school mental health support;
• using surveys or data to guide future learning opportunities;
• delivering social-emotional learning in classrooms; and
• hiring a teacher for CASA classrooms.

Up to 20 per cent of the grant can be used on individualized supports and services including specialized counselling and clinical services such as psychologists, a behaviourist, specialized assessments or an addictions counsellor.

Schools will be required to report annually on how the funding is used and the impact it has on student well-being.

Schilling said the $69 million over three years will not be enough to address the needs of students.

“We know that the need out there is much greater than what $23 million a year is going to do,” he said. “We definitely need to see an increase in the supports for mental health funding in our classrooms and we also need to see teachers’ voices involved in these conversations so that it is actually making a real concrete difference in our classrooms.”

The Mental Health and Well-Being Grant funding builds on a previous pilot that tested ways to address student mental health in schools.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Sean McClune