‘Where do we go?’: Women’s shelters in rural Alberta brace for July 1 funding cuts

Stressed young woman in the bedroom.

More than a dozen women’s shelters in Alberta are expecting to see funding cuts come July 1 despite the province increasing funding sector-wide.

The Alberta government announced an investment of $4 million over three years in its Emergency Family Violence Services program to help women’s shelters address building repairs, renovations and safety upgrades.

But the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) says several shelters, most in rural areas, will see a five per cent decrease in funding.

“We’re grateful for the investment into our shelters, but not on the heels of some losing it,” said ACWS executive director Cat Champagne. “We just would like to see it be equitable because I think there are some ancillary things that are coming from cutting these funds that they’re just not taking into consideration.”

A statement from the Children and Family Services Ministry said the program was developed following engagement with shelters and partners to provide more flexible options for those accessing support.

“In fact, 23 women’s shelters, including many rural shelters, received an increase or saw no changes to their funding,” said the ministry. “To support service continuity and stability, any reductions were capped at five per cent.

The Mountain Rose Women’s Shelter in Rocky Mountain House is one shelter that is expecting the five per cent cut.

“Where do we go?” said executive director Cindy Easton. “There is not enough funding to provide the services that are needed … and now with the funding cuts, I’m not sure where that’s going to go.”

Easton said staff haven’t received increments in their salaries in over two years. They’ve also had to roll back hours from 40 a week to 26 a week to keep providing services.

“If I terminate staff, then we’re closing programs, so I’m not sure what this is going to look like,” said Easton.

In 2025, Mountain Rose worked with more than 210 women and children in its emergency shelter, but turned away about 545 women and 350 children.

The 21-bed emergency shelter provides services to an area spanning from Drayton Valley to Sundre to the Banff-Jasper border.

“We have a very large area, which means there is a lot of travel,” explained Easton. “Because there is no bus service, people rely on the shelter if they need to come in to do transportation … It’s very complex.”

Rural communities often see higher volumes and more severe instances of intimate partner violence. Data from Statistics Canada reveals that the rate of gender-related homicide across the country was more than 2.5 times greater in rural areas compared to urban zones.

Champagne said a lot of women’s shelters in rural areas often provide additional services that don’t necessarily fall within their criteria, such as homeless supports.

“They do it because they want to support other vulnerable populations in their community, and it’s just a role they’ve come to learn and have done really well,” said Champagne. “An they need to be properly funded for that.”

While the shelter doesn’t want to see funding cuts, Easton said they understand that the budget is tight.

“We’re willing to work with the government on this, but give us time,” she said. “Last week I got the letter saying how much we were cut and saying, figure it out by July 1. That’s not enough time.”

ACWS is calling on child and family services minister Searle Turton to delay the mid-year reductions to the next fiscal year and to release the methodology behind the new funding allocation model.

“They need time to shift, they need time to adjust programming, adjust staffing, change those budgets and look at other funding sources,” said Champagne. “It’s just not enough time to prepare for a cut of that magnitude.”

The province is encouraging shelters and other service providers to explore other funding opportunities available.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson