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Alberta’s 2023 Budget Helps Families But Lacks Support for Gambling Addicts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28, 2023

CALGARY, AB – Think tank Cardus is pleased to see several positive developments contained in the Alberta government’s 2023 budget. Alberta will be indexing the Child and Family Benefit to inflation and providing limited-time payments for parents with children under 18. This is consistent with Cardus’s pre-budget recommendation to expand financial supports to help more Alberta parents, particularly those not covered by the federal government’s Early Learning and Child Care Agreement with the province.

“Child care is the care of a child, no matter who provides that care,” says Andreae Sennyah, Cardus’s Alberta-based Director of Policy. “The additional provincial support promised in Budget 2023 will help more parents who may not benefit from the federal-provincial child care funding program because of the type of care their family chooses.”

While details are limited, Cardus also welcomes the government’s decision to invest additional funds into school transportation. This is consistent with our recommendation for independent school students to receive support for travelling to school.

“Funding to get to school is as important as funding for the schools themselves,” says Catharine Kavanagh, Cardus’s Alberta Liaison Officer. “We hope this move by the Government of Alberta will help more parents choose the school that is the best fit for their child. We look forward to seeing the details of this policy as it is rolled out.”

Cardus is also supportive of the additional funds for charter school expansion.

“We know that thousands of families in Alberta want access to charter schools,” says Kavanagh. “This additional funding should help address growing waitlists and serve the needs of more students.”

Unfortunately, Cardus’s initial analysis finds that Alberta’s government will continue to direct proceeds from electronic gambling machines into its general revenues. Maintaining the status quo on this issue is a missed opportunity to meaningfully address gambling addiction and redirect gambling revenue to reducing poverty.

Cardus will continue to review the details of Budget 2023 as policies are debated and implemented.

Read Cardus’s pre-budget submission here: Memo: Alberta’s Budget 2023 Consultation.

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