Alberta doles out millions for school mental health supports; teachers’ union says cash is too little, too late

Alberta schools are set to receive $69 million in mental health funding, but the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) says the announcement is misleading, and the money was already included in last year’s budget.

The government says Wednesday’s announcement aims to reduce classroom complexity and give teachers more tools to support students.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says teachers are facing increasingly challenging learning environments, and the funding is flexible so school boards can meet local needs.

“This grant builds on the success of the mental health in schools pilot project which ended last year,” he said. “That project tested new ways to support student mental health and we saw that targeted supports make a real difference for students and this new funding will help even more students across Alberta.”

He adds that this will take some weight of the shoulders of educators, allowing them to focus on what matters most.

“These resources will make classrooms less complex by addressing some of the root causes of aggression and learning challenges, allowing teachers to focus on what they need to be doing most — teaching students and focusing on learning,” the minister said.

But, ATA president Jason Schilling points out that the funding was already budgeted in 2025, and calling it a new initiative misrepresents the situation.

“The fact that government is trying to disguise this as a way to address the complex needs or the recommendations within the Aggression Action Study report, to me, seems a little bit disingenuous,” he explained. “This is money that should have been allocated into schools in September, not waiting until December.”

Schilling adds that this will not be enough money to truly address rising mental health challenges in schools.

“We need to see more investment into the issue that is going on in our schools. We know that $23 million a year over the next three years is not going to be enough to address what teachers and school leaders are experiencing in school,” he said. “Students need more support like additional school counsellors, guidance counsellors, or other programming that can be used to address the mental health needs of our students.”

He says to see a real change, boards need to be able to hire more mental health professionals rather than training teachers.

Former Calgary Board of Education (CBE) teacher, Joty Gill, says without addressing the root causes, funding this like can only go so far.

“These same students that are causing this or being violent, you’ve got to think of it ‘What’s happening in their life? What’s happening in their home that’s causing them to be aggressive?” she said. “We have to get to the root cause of it. Honestly, it’s not at school, it’s always something that happens to the foundation of home.”

The province says school boards can use up to 20 per cent of the grant for individualized supports, including counselling and psychological assessments.