December 4, 2025
RED FM News Desk
Alberta schools are set to receive $69 million to support student mental health, but the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) says the provincial announcement is misleading because the money was already accounted for in last year’s budget.
The province says the funding will help reduce classroom complexity and give educators better tools to support students.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said teachers are increasingly dealing with challenging learning environments and that the grant is designed to be flexible so school boards can direct resources where they’re needed most.
“This grant builds on the success of the mental health in schools pilot project that concluded last year,” Nicolaides said. “The pilot demonstrated that targeted supports make a real difference, and this new funding will help even more students across Alberta.”
He added the investment will help address underlying causes of aggression and learning difficulties, giving teachers more time to focus on instruction.
But ATA president Jason Schilling argues the province is presenting the announcement as something new when the $69 million was already included in the 2025 budget.
“The fact that the government is trying to disguise this as a response to complex classroom needs or recommendations from the Aggression Action Study report seems disingenuous,” Schilling said. “This money should have been released to schools in September, not held until December.”
Schilling also warned that the funding is not enough to address the growing mental health challenges in classrooms.
“We need more investment. Twenty-three million dollars a year over three years is not going to meet the needs teachers and school leaders are seeing,” he said. “Students require additional support, more counsellors, guidance staff, and programs that can properly address mental health.”
He added that real change will require boards to hire more mental health professionals rather than placing added responsibilities on teachers.
Former Calgary Board of Education teacher Joty Gill echoed that concern, saying the root causes of student aggression need to be addressed.
“When students are acting out or becoming violent, we need to consider what’s happening at home that’s contributing to that behavior,” she said. “If we don’t address the underlying issues, funding like this can only go so far.”
The province says school boards can allocate up to 20 percent of the grant toward individualized supports such as counselling and psychological assessments.
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