Alberta’s overhaul of its family violence funding system is prompting concern from the Pincher Creek Women’s Emergency Shelter Association, which says it will see a five per cent reduction in operating funding under the new Emergency Family Violence Services program.

The province says the $62-million program is intended to improve access to services and align funding with demand, while shelters and the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters warn the changes could destabilize already under-resourced organizations in rural areas.

The Pincher Creek Women’s Emergency Shelter Association says the reduction comes as demand for services is rising and operating pressures have not eased after more than a decade without significant funding increases.

Executive director Lori Van Ee says the cut, while appearing small on paper, will have immediate consequences for both staffing and service delivery.

“This funding cut means job losses, people being turned away, not having access to safe supports,” she says. “We are already underfunded and to receive a five per cent cut from our budget is huge.”

Announced May 19, the program is described by the province as a “needs-based” funding model intended to better align resources with geography, community needs and operating costs.

Children and Family Services Minister Searle Turton said the shift is designed to make supports more flexible and accessible.

“Through the Emergency Family Violence Services program, we are making it easier for Albertans to access help in ways that work best for them and their families, while continuing to strengthen existing programs,” Turton said in the province’s announcement.

The program also introduces a provincewide data collection framework to track service demand, capacity and outcomes. It includes a $4-million capital grant pilot over three years to help shelters fund urgent building repairs and safety upgrades.

Province defends shelter funding cuts

According to the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, more than a dozen shelters across the province have received reductions in their operating funding under the new program, including the Pincher Creek shelter.

Van Ee says the cases the shelter handles are becoming more severe and complex, even as wages have stayed flat for more than a decade. She also points to what she calls a lack of transparency in how the decisions were made.

“Clients not being able to access safe supports, job losses, families being turned away from the shelter,” she says, describing the potential consequences of the funding change.

She says the Pincher Creek shelter was given only six weeks’ notice of the reduction. The province, however, says the new funding model was developed following extensive engagement with shelters and community partners over two years.

In a statement, senior press secretary Chinenye Anokwuru says the updated approach is intended to better match funding with service demand and operating realities across the province.

Anokwuru says any reductions under the new formula were capped at five per cent.

“In fact, 23 women’s shelters, including many rural shelters, received an increase or saw no changes to their funding,” she says.

Acknowledging that some organizations have concerns about the new allocation approach, Anokwuru points to additional funding opportunities available under the program.

“Twelve million dollars is available to support implementation this year. Existing shelter programs and other community and family violence prevention agencies will be able to access funding for new programs and regional collaboration and innovation,” she says.

The ministry also notes that $8 million was provided between 2023 and 2026 to address operational pressures and rising costs, and says the new capital grant is designed to free up operational dollars that shelters have historically spent on building maintenance and repairs.

Sector sounds alarm, urges delay

The ACWS has raised concerns about both the scale and the timing of the changes. In a letter to Premier Danielle Smith dated May 27, the organization asks the government to delay implementing the funding cuts until the 2027-28 fiscal year, giving affected shelters time to adjust their operations and identify alternative sources of revenue.

The letter, signed by ACWS executive director Catherine Champagne, board president Sandy Vander Ziel and Van Ee, along with members of eight other shelters, warns the cuts are set to take effect July 1 — midway through the fiscal year for most shelters — after budgets have already been approved and staffing commitments made.

“After more than a decade without stable increases to operational funding, shelters have little remaining capacity to absorb cuts of this magnitude,” the letter says. “Without sufficient time to secure alternative funding, the result will be immediate job losses and reductions to core services for women and children seeking safety.”

The letter says the impacts will fall disproportionately on rural communities, which already experience higher rates and greater severity of gender-based violence, and that cutting rural shelter capacity would shift the burden onto emergency rooms, RCMP detachments and child intervention services.

“Distance, transportation barriers and lack of local support networks mean that urban services simply cannot fill the gap left by cuts to rural women’s shelters,” the letter reads.

The ACWS says it and affected shelters have been raising concerns with the ministry through established channels since the changes were announced, but have not seen movement toward a solution that will prevent disruption to services.

In total, the letter asks the province to defer $970,000 in cuts across more than a dozen shelters to the 2027-28 fiscal year.

“Such a deferral would give our member organizations time to identify alternative funding sources, adjust their operations responsibly and minimize disruption to critical safety infrastructure for rural Albertans,” the letter adds.

Shelter calls for stable, sustained funding

Van Ee says what rural shelters need is straightforward: stable, predictable funding they can count on year over year, and wages that allow them to recruit and retain qualified staff.

“Regular sustained funding. Increases in funding that we can count on,” she says. “Women and children matter too.”

The ministry says it remains committed to the sector and to ensuring Albertans impacted by family violence can access the safety and support they need.