A mental health hub for youth is still years away from becoming a reality, according to the chair and vice-chair of the St. Albert Youth Mental Health Hub Steering Committee.
The potential future hub would be part of the provincial Youth Hubs Alberta program, which was first piloted back in 2017 and expanded in 2021. The program funds centralized hubs for youth to get services like health care, addictions counselling, housing services, and more.
There are at least eight hubs operating throughout the province, such as The Bridge Wellness Hub for Youth in Fort Saskatchewan, with funding approved for the development of four more hubs.
Work got underway in 2021 to create a hub in St. Albert, and more than 20 community organizations are involved in the planning, including Stop Abuse in Families (SAiF) and its executive director Mark Dixon, who serves as the chair of the steering committee.
READ MORE: Future mental health hub seeks youth input
In an email last week, Dixon said the committee won't know if they'll receive the necessary funding to open a hub in St. Albert until at least 2026.
“We are still outside of the funding cycle compared to the 11 approved hubs in other parts of the province,” he said. “We won’t find out if we will be potentially included in the next funding cycle until March 2026.”
However, Dixon said the committee, and all of the organizations involved, have decided to “move forward on our own, at least for the short-term.”
“We have a network of organizations who have indicated an interest in supporting the Hub’s operations and strongly believe that the broader St. Albert community will help bring together the resources to help make it a reality — sooner than later, for the benefit of our youth in need,” he said. “The members are re-energized now that we’re pushing forward on our own and taking control of the vision.”
“The only barriers right now are time, having enough time in a day to get everything done, and resources to make things happen, but we’re moving in the right direction to address both of those.”
Hunter Baril, the press secretary for the ministry of mental health and addictions, said in an email any decisions about expanding the youth mental health hub program will be made closer to 2026.
“Communities can connect with Kickstand to learn more about their model and experience, should there be future funding opportunities,” Baril said.
Kickstand is an Alberta-based non-profit that was tasked with administering the hubs. Between 2023-26 the Alberta government is giving Kickstand almost $14 million for the program.
“In addition to physical centres, funding supports Kickstand Connect, which provides free virtual mental health and substance use counselling services, peer support and social services to youth and families throughout the province,” Baril said.
Between now and 2026, or until the Steering Committee gathers the resources necessary to launch a hub without provincial funding, Dixon and committee vice-chair Laura Charrois say they're hoping to continue gathering input from St. Albert youth between the ages of 11-24 on next steps.
“If anyone knows a youth between 11-24 who would like to participate in a survey that we have created, please send a note to [email protected],” said Charrois, who works as a youth suicide prevention coordinator at the St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village.
“If youth have suggestions for what they would like to see, they can send their thoughts to [that email] address.”
Charrois and Dixon also said they're “looking at holding an activity in the near future to support youth in the community,” and details are to come.
The committee held an in-person engagement session last February to gather input on what youth would like to see included in a future service hub. Charrois and Dixon said although attendance was less than hoped for, the session was a success and the public contributions continue to guide the committee's planning.
