Alberta’s government is helping community organizations expand and develop new mental health and suicide prevention supports for youth.
The Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program is providing $3 million over the next two years to 13 youth-focused community programs.
These organizations will use the grants to provide mental health support and services to priority youth populations at a higher risk for youth suicide.
The successful grant recipients are from regions across the province that work locally to serve and support the mental health of young people, including Indigenous youth.
This increased funding will help to address gaps and community needs to provide improved mental health support and programming.
In 2019, the Government of Alberta launched Building Strength, Inspiring Hope: A Provincial Action Plan for Youth Suicide Prevention 2019-2024. The Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program was created to help advance the outcomes laid out in the action plan and continue the work achieved through the plan over its first two years.
Quick facts
- The Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program funding will be provided to organizations over a two-year period (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024), and ranges from $50,000 to $150,000 per fiscal year.
- These 13 successful applicants will receive the 2022-2024 grants, which are being finalized and will range from about $100,000 to $300,000:
- Camrose Open Door – central region
- Centre for Suicide Prevention – provincial
- Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton – Edmonton region
- First Nations Health Consortium – provincial
- Free Play for Kids – Edmonton region
- Gift Lake Metis Settlement – Gift Lake Metis Settlement
- Lethbridge Family Services – south region
- Miywasin Friendship Centre – Medicine Hat
- Neutral Hills Learning & Community Connection Centre – central region
- Red Deer Native Friendship Society – central region
- St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village Society – Sturgeon County
- University of Calgary – Calgary region
- YMCA of Northern Alberta – north region
- Alberta’s government is already taking steps to help children and youth navigate mental health challenges:
- The Child and Youth Well-being Review examined the impacts of COVID-19 on children and youth and provided recommendations to the government to help create a cross-government action plan.
- The government committed $7.3 million over three years to support the expansion of youth mental health hubs.
- Annual funding of $1.25 million was allocated for a 12-week Youth Recovery Program at Hull Services.
