Alberta’s government is helping build the province’s future workforce through funding to support post-secondary students.

Alberta’s government is investing almost $1.2 billion in post-secondary students through loans, grants, scholarships, bursaries and awards. Post-secondary students are essential to building Alberta’s future workforce and ensuring the province remains competitive both nationally and internationally.

As of Sept. 2, Alberta Student Aid has received more than 90,000 loan and grant applications for the 2025-26 academic year, and about 17,000 scholarship and award applications. The Alberta Student Aid system automatically processes student aid applications, though some applications require staff review to determine eligibility.

“Alberta’s post-secondary students are investing their time, energy and money in pursuing higher education. Our future leaders are among these young Albertans, and we are proud to support them through a variety of repayable and non-repayable funding supports. An investment in these students is an investment in the future of our workforce, our economy and our province.”

The Alberta Student Awards Personnel Association consists of 85 members representing 25 of Alberta’s post-secondary institutions, and works with Alberta’s government to make improvements to the student financial assistance program in Alberta.

“The Alberta Student Awards Personnel Association sincerely appreciates the noticeable improvements in application processing times this year. The positive impact of the work at Alberta Student Aid is being felt by students and institutions alike, and we recognize the considerable effort and coordination required to achieve this level of service.”

Alberta’s government is continuing to take action to make post-secondary education more affordable by capping tuition increases, reducing interest rates on student loans, maintaining the interest-free grace period, increasing access to the Repayment Assistance Plan and modernizing shelter allowances for student aid.

Quick facts

• Students can get more information and submit their applications at studentaid.alberta.ca.
• To avoid delays, students are encouraged to upload all required documentation with their initial application.
• Alberta Student Aid does not cover all financial costs associated with attending post-secondary education and is a supplement to other funding sources such as savings, part-time employment or family assistance.

Related information

• Alberta Student Aid

Classic literary books will remain on shelves, while materials with visual depictions of sexual acts will be removed from schools.

Children should never be exposed to images that show child molestation, sex toy use, penetration or other sexual acts at school. In response to a school board’s proposed removal of more than 200 books, including classic works like Brave New World and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Alberta’s government has updated its standards for school literary materials. The updated standards prevent misinterpretation and ensure that restrictions focus specifically on materials with explicit visual depictions of sexual acts.

“Our goal has always been to make sure students are not exposed to visually graphic sexual material in school libraries. I am confident we can meet that goal while making the process as simple and straightforward as possible for schools and teachers. The revised order will ensure that classic literary works remain in school libraries, while materials with explicit visual depictions of sexual acts do not end up in the hands of children.”

Under the updated standards, school boards must remove any school literary materials that contain explicit visual depictions of a sexual act. To ensure the intent of the standards is clear and achievable, the updated order:

• Narrows the scope to focus strictly on explicit visual depictions of a sexual act.
• Requires school boards to be transparent about school literary materials.
  • The school authority must establish and maintain a publicly available listing of all school literary materials other than those contained in a classroom collection.
  • The school authority must ensure that the parents of the children or students who have access to a classroom collection are informed of the school literary materials contained specifically in the classroom collection.
• Extends the implementation date to January 5, 2026, to provide school boards with additional time for communication and preparation.
• Does not apply to material, whether in physical or electronic form, brought into the school by a child or student without the knowledge of any school authority employee.

By October 31, school boards must provide the minister with a list of literary materials they intend to remove in order to implement the standards.

With clear expectations for school boards, the new ministerial order will ensure the standards continue to protect young students from exposure to materials with inappropriate images as previously intended.