Canmore Family Connection Centre Receives $500K Annual Funding Boost

Canmore’s Family Connection Centre will receive $503,450 annually in provincial funding over the next two years as it expands services for children, youth and families across the Bow Valley.

Canmore council unanimously accepted the Family Resource Network grant for July 2026 through June 2028 at its June 30 meeting. The funding represents a $143,612 annual increase over the previous provincial allocation of $359,838.

The new agreement will bring Home Visitation directly under the Family Connection Centre, expand overall Family Resource Network eligibility from age 18 to 24 and require more provincially funded services to focus on intensive, one-on-one support.

The majority of the funding will go toward staff wages, with additional money supporting training, program materials and resources for families, according to the Town of Canmore. The Town did not provide a detailed breakdown of how much will be allocated to individual positions or programs.

One of the biggest changes will see the Family Connection Centre, which serves as the Bow Valley’s Family Resource Network hub, begin delivering Home Visitation directly in the region. The service is available to expectant caregivers and families with children from birth to age six. A newly hired family support worker will meet families in their homes and carry a caseload of approximately 15 to 20 families. The worker will follow a structured home visitation curriculum, develop individualized service and transition plans and receive specialized training related to in-home service delivery and safety.

Families will first undergo a screening call before visits begin. The support provided will vary depending on a family’s circumstances but can involve helping caregivers understand child development, strengthen relationships with their children, identify and build on their own strengths and connect with other supports.

“The goal is to connect caregivers with supports to decrease isolation and enhance family well-being,” Town communications advisor Margo Petroff said in a written statement.

Home Visitation is not new to the Bow Valley. The service has been available since the provincial Family Resource Network system began in 2020 but was previously delivered by a Calgary-based agency working within the regional network.

That agency did not apply to continue delivering the service in the Bow Valley under the new funding cycle, prompting the Family Connection Centre to take it on.

Community Social Development manager Jill Jamieson said Home Visitation is intended as a more intensive form of support for families facing complex challenges, including new or young caregivers, those with limited support networks and families experiencing poverty, mental-health challenges or trauma. The program will also help the centre meet a provincial requirement that 50% of its services be intensive supports, Jamieson said.

That requirement is part of a broader province-wide change in how Alberta expects Family Resource Networks to deliver services.

The updated provincial guidelines require greater emphasis on intensive, one-on-one supports and reduce the emphasis on universal, open-access programming. Jamieson told council the shift applies to all 72 Family Resource Networks rather than being based specifically on the needs of the Bow Valley.

Historically, Canmore’s Family Connection Centre has focused heavily on universal and targeted prevention programs intended to help families address challenges before they escalate. Under the new provincial model, it will have to shift more resources toward individualized services such as Home Visitation and one-on-one family support.

Exactly what that will mean for existing programming is still being determined. Petroff said the centre hopes to continue many of the universal and targeted programs families currently use, although some may change or move from open access to a registration-based format.

“As it stands in this early vision of it, we don't feel we're losing anything,” Jamieson told council. “It will shift some of the things that we're offering.”

The centre’s parent drop-in programs will not be affected by the provincial changes because they are funded by the Town of Canmore rather than through the provincial Family Resource Network grant.

The Family Connection Centre currently serves more than 500 families each year through programs, services and supports across the Bow Valley. The Town said it is too early to estimate how many additional families will be served under the new agreement as staff shift toward more resource-intensive, individualized supports.

Separate from Home Visitation, the new provincial guidelines expand overall Family Resource Network eligibility from birth to age 24, up from the previous upper age limit of 18.

Children and Family Services senior press secretary Chinenye Anokwuru said the expanded age range primarily applies to youth-focused programming aimed at supporting healthy development and well-being, including building coping skills, confidence, healthy relationships and community connections. It may also include cultural programming for young parents and connecting youth with appropriate supports and services.

In Canmore, the centre is working with other health and social-service providers to define its expanded role. Jamieson said its registered social workers are expected to generally support people with mild-to-moderate needs while Recovery Alberta focuses more on moderate-to-severe cases.

The additional provincial funding is expected to be fully used to meet the expanded scope of services. The Town also contributes $178,533 annually to the centre, and Jamieson said some municipal support would likely continue to be needed for staffing costs.

Despite questions about the province’s shift away from prevention-focused programming, councillors unanimously supported accepting the grant.

Coun. Tanya Foubert said having more of those services delivered locally, rather than by outside organizations that may not have the same understanding of the Bow Valley, ultimately made the change worthwhile.

“This change actually means that more services are delivered in our community,” Foubert said. “That is a place where I think that it's really powerful and we can actually make people's lives better.”