Alberta
Alberta $8.8 billion education budget – plan to hire 3,000 new staff
Alberta’s government is committed to providing the support and services students need to succeed, and the resources schools need to support teachers and their staff. Budget 2023 increases the operating budget for the Ministry of Education by nearly $2 billion over the next three years. This will support hiring up to 3,000 education staff, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and school support staff.
In the 2023-24 school year, Alberta will spend about $8.8 billion on education for students in kindergarten to Grade 12, the equivalent of $44 million for every day students are in school and an increase of more than five per cent.
“School authorities in Alberta deserve a government that will support them in addressing this year’s unprecedented enrolment growth, be properly resourced to address complex learning needs, and make transportation safer and more affordable. This investment addresses rising enrolment, helps meet students’ diverse needs and helps school authorities combat inflation.”
“Our children are our future and Budget 2023 ensures every child is supported in the classroom. By investing in our education system, we are ensuring students are prepared for success throughout their lives. While inflation continues to be a challenge, we are providing stable, predictable funding so school authorities can hire the staff they need to help students learn.”
Welcoming more students
Alberta’s booming economy led to one of its largest-ever population increases in 2022, which has meant more students in Alberta schools. Budget 2023 will provide increased funding to school authorities of $820 million specifically to support enrolment growth over the next three years.
This increased funding will begin the work to address class sizes by allowing school authorities to hire more teachers and classroom staff over the next three years. The increase will come through a variety of existing grants that include an enrolment component.
“Dozens of school projects are in the planning, design or construction phases right now across Alberta. Through Budget 2023, we’ll be adding approximately 20,000 more new and modernized student spaces that will help to ensure our kids get to go to school in their own communities in world-class facilities.”
Meeting students’ unique needs
Budget 2023 includes almost $1.5 billion in Learning Support funding for Alberta’s most vulnerable students, those with specialized learning needs and those requiring additional help at school. This includes specialized learning supports, program unit funding, English as a second language, refugee students, First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
On top of the funding increase for enrolment growth, Budget 2023 also includes targeted funding of $126 million over three years to increase staffing. This funding will allow school authorities to hire more educational assistants or increase their hours, provide more training opportunities for staff and/or hire specialists such as counsellors, psychologists, interpreters and more teachers.
These additional supports will give schools the ability to work more closely with students who have diverse learning needs, such as those with disabilities or those learning English as an additional language. This new funding will be delivered through a new targeted grant to school authorities. Overall, Budget 2023 includes almost $1.5 billion in Learning Support funding for Alberta’s most vulnerable students, those with specialized learning needs and those requiring additional help at school.
To help close learning gaps caused by the pandemic, Alberta’s government will spend an additional $20 million over the next two years to assist students in grades 1 to 5. This increased funding builds off previous successes to help students regain literacy and numeracy skills.
Increasing affordability for transportation
School authorities will also receive an additional $414 million over the next three years through Budget 2023 to support increased transportation funding that will result in more students having access to provincially funded transportation services. This increased funding will lower fees charged to thousands of parents, address rural ride times and cost pressures, and address rising costs for driver training.
Budget 2023 highlights
- Budget 2023 will increase staffing supports in complex classrooms by up to 10 per cent, which will enhance experiences and have positive effects on students’ personal and social development.
- The government is investing $50 million to support mental health pilot projects over the next two years to improve K-12 students’ well-being.
- Rising inflationary pressures are affecting school authorities and families. Budget 2023 will boost transportation funding to offset rising transportation costs like insurance, fuel and driver training. These costs are often passed on to Alberta families, so increasing the amount of funding available will decrease the parent fees associated with school transportation.
Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s future by transforming the health-care system to meet people’s needs, keeping our communities safe, and growing the economy with more jobs, quality education and continued diversification.
From LifeSiteNews
Alberta announced it ‘is reviewing how MAID is regulated to ensure there is a consistent process as well as oversight that protects vulnerable Albertans, specifically those living with disabilities or suffering from mental health challenges.’
The Conservative provincial government of Alberta is pushing back against the Canadian federal government’s continued desire to expand euthanasia in the nation, saying it will launch a review of the legislation and policies surrounding the grim practice, including a period of public engagement.
The United Conservative Party (UCP) government under Premier Danielle Smith in a press release said the province needs to make sure that robust safeguards and procedures are in place to protect vulnerable people from being coerced into getting euthanatized under the MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) program.
“Alberta’s government is reviewing how MAID is regulated to ensure there is a consistent process as well as oversight that protects vulnerable Albertans, specifically those living with disabilities or suffering from mental health challenges,” said the government Monday.
The government said a online survey regarding MAiD open to all Albertans who have opinions about the deadly practice will be available until December 20.
“We recognize that medical assistance in dying is a very complex and often personal issue and is an important, sensitive and emotional matter for patients and their families,” said Alberta’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Mickey Amery.
Amery said it is important to ensure this process has the “necessary supports to protect the most vulnerable.”
The government said that it will also be engaging with academics, medical associations, public bodies, as well as religious organizations and “regulatory bodies, advocacy groups” regarding MAiD
The government said all information gathered through this consultation will “help inform the Alberta government’s planning and policy decision making, including potential legislative changes regarding MAID in Alberta.”
When it comes to MAiD, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government sought to expand it from the chronically and terminally ill to those suffering solely from mental illness.
However, in February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.
Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams said that the UCP government has been “clear” that it does not “support the provision of medically assisted suicide for vulnerable Albertans facing mental illness as their primary purpose for seeking their own death.”
“Instead, our goal is to build a continuum of care where vulnerable Albertans can live in long-term health and fulfilment. We look forward to the feedback of Albertans as we proceed with this important issue,” he noted.
The Alberta government said that as MAiD is “federally legislated and regulated” it is main job will be to try and make sure that it protects “vulnerable individuals” as much as possible.
Alberta’s Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange reaffirmed that the Alberta government “does not support expanding MAID eligibility to include those facing depression or mental illness and continues to call on the federal government to end this policy altogether.”
The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection under the nation’s MAiD program since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.
To combat Canadians being coerced into MAiD, which LifeSiteNews has covered, the combat pro-life Delta Hospice Society (DHS) is offering a free “Do Not Euthanize Defense Kit” to help vulnerable people “protect themselves” from any healthcare workers who might push euthanasia on the defenseless.
Nurse practitioners expand primary care access |
The Alberta government’s Nurse Practitioner Primary Care program is showing early signs of success, with 33 nurse practitioners already practising independently in communities across the province.
Alberta’s government is committed to strengthening Alberta’s primary health care system, recognizing that innovative approaches are essential to improving access. To further this commitment, the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program was launched in April, allowing nurse practitioners to practise comprehensive patient care autonomously, either by operating their own practices or working independently within existing primary care settings.
Since being announced, the program has garnered a promising response. A total of 67 applications have been submitted, with 56 approved. Of those, 33 nurse practitioners are now practising autonomously in communities throughout Alberta, including in rural locations such as Beaverlodge, Coaldale, Cold Lake, Consort, Morley, Picture Butte, Three Hills, Two Hills, Vegreville and Vermilion.
“I am thrilled about the interest in this program, as nurse practitioners are a key part of the solution to provide Albertans with greater access to the primary health care services they need.”
To participate in the program, nurse practitioners are required to commit to providing a set number of hours of medically necessary primary care services, maintain a panel size of at least 900 patients, offer after-hours access on weekends, evenings or holidays, and accept walk-in appointments until a panel size reaches 900 patients.
With 33 nurse practitioners practising independently, about 30,000 more Albertans will have access to the primary health care they need. Once the remaining 23 approved applicants begin practising, primary health care access will expand to almost 21,000 more Albertans.
“Enabling nurse practitioners to practise independently is great news for rural Alberta. This is one more way our government is ensuring communities will have access to the care they need, closer to home.”
“Nurse practitioners are highly skilled health care professionals and an invaluable part of our health care system. The Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program is the right step to ensuring all Albertans can receive care where and when they need it.”
“The NPAA wishes to thank the Alberta government for recognizing the vital role NPs play in the health care system. Nurse practitioners have long advocated to operate their own practices and are ready to meet the growing health care needs of Albertans. This initiative will ensure that more people receive the timely and comprehensive care they deserve.”
The Nurse Practitioner Primary Care program not only expands access to primary care services across the province but also enables nurse practitioners to practise to their full scope, providing another vital access point for Albertans to receive timely, high-quality care when and where they need it most.
Quick facts
- Through the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program, nurse practitioners receive about 80 per cent of the compensation that fee-for-service family physicians earn for providing comprehensive primary care.
- Compensation for nurse practitioners is determined based on panel size (the number of patients under their care) and the number of patient care hours provided.
- Nurse practitioners have completed graduate studies and are regulated by the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta.
- For the second consecutive year, a record number of registrants renewed their permits with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) to continue practising nursing in Alberta.
- There were more than 44,798 registrants and a 15 per cent increase in nurse practitioners.
- Data from the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program show:
- Nine applicants plan to work on First Nations reserves or Metis Settlements.
- Parts of the province where nurse practitioners are practising: Calgary (12), Edmonton (five), central (six), north (three) and south (seven).
- Participating nurse practitioners who practise in eligible communities for the Rural, Remote and Northern Program will be provided funding as an incentive to practise in rural or remote areas.
- Participating nurse practitioners are also eligible for the Panel Management Support Program, which helps offset costs for physicians and nurse practitioners to provide comprehensive care as their patient panels grow.
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