Alberta

For more information, please see the information sheet on Alberta's child welfare system.

Overview

The Ministry of Children’s Services is responsible for child welfare in Alberta. The Child, Youth, and Family Enhancement Act governs child protection and intervention services, which are provided in five regions, and through 19 delegated First Nations Agencies (Government of Alberta, 2021). Delegated First Nations Agencies (DFNAs) have authority to provide Child Intervention services to First Nations children living on-reserve. Children living off-reserve, as well as children living on a reserve that does not have a DFNA are protected by provincial Child Intervention services in their region (Government of Alberta, 2022).

The Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act, the Drug-Endangered Children Act, and the Protection Against Family Violence Act also guide child welfare practice in Alberta, allowing caseworkers and social workers to intervene in a broad range of issues related to harm or risk of harm to children (Government of Alberta, 2021).

Statistics

Child Maltreatment Investigations in Alberta, 2003¹ and 2008²
	2003	2008
Child population	752,005	775,175
Number of child maltreatment investigations	32,453	27,147
Incidence of child maltreatment investigations per 1000 children	43.16	35.02

Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Alberta, 2008²
	Number	Rate per 1,000 children
Maltreatment Investigation	22,761	35.02
Risk Investigation	4,386	5.66

Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Alberta, 2008²
Category of Maltreatment	Number	Rate per 1,000 children
Physical Abuse	1,933	2.49
Sexual Abuse	285	0.37
Neglect	5,328	6.87
Emotional Maltreatment	1,974	2.55
Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence	4,883	6.30

Placement in Child Maltreatment Investigations in Alberta, 2003¹ and 2008²
	2003 Number	2003 Rate	2008 Number	2008 Rate
No Placement	28,294	37.62	23,625	30.48
Informal Kinship Care	1,923	2.56	1,139	1.47
Formal Placement	2,230	2.97	2,383	3.08

Children and youth in out-of-home care in 2022³
Children in out-of-home care		Child (0-17) population	Rate per 1000
8,164		973,725	8.38

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities, making it difficult to compile statistics at the national level.

The most notable variations between provinces include, mandate variation by jurisdiction with respect to the age to which children are eligible for service, differences in the length of time a child can receive out-of-home care and the definition of out-of-home care.

References

¹ MacLaurin, B., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., McCormack, M., Pitman, L., Forest, N., Banks, J., Shangreaux, C., & Perrault, E. (2005) Alberta Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (AIS-2003): Major Findings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary. https://cwrp.ca/publications/alberta-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2003-ais-2003-major-findings

² MacLaurin, B., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., Sinha, V., Feehan, R., Enns, R., Gail, J., Kitt, O., Thomas‑Prokop, S., Zelt, C., Daoust, G., Hutcheon, E., & Budgell, D. (2013). Alberta Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008 (AIS-2008): Major Findings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary. http://cwrp.ca/publications/alberta-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2008-ais-2008-major-findings

³ Pollock, N., Ouédraogo, A., Trocmé, N., Hovdestad, W., Miskie, A., Crompton, L., Campeau, A., Tanaka, M., Zhang, C., Laprise, C., Tonmyr, L. (2024).Original quantitative research – Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (44)4. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.4.02.

Government of Alberta. (n.d.). Child Intervention Information and Statistics Summary 2018/19 Fourth Quarter (March) Update. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/de167286-500d-4cf8-bf01-0d08224eeadc/resource/b8142559-cb87-49b7-bd30-d0a3d2f113bc/download/child-intervention-quarterly-stats-2018-19-q4.pdf

Government of Alberta. (2022, February 10). Child Intervention Information and Statistics Summary Child Intervention Information and Statistics – 2021-22 Third Quarter (December) Update. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/de167286-500d-4cf8-bf01-0d08224eeadc/resource/fd29d5a2-a42f-4e79-86bf-b3797dee8684/download/cs-child-intervention-information-statistics-summary-2021-2022-q3.pdf

Publications

Title	Authors	Year
Passion for Action in Child and Family Services: Voices from the Prairies	McKay, Sharon Fuchs, Don Brown, Ivan	2009
Passion for Those Who Care: What Foster Carers Need	Twigg, Robert C.	2009
Passion within the First Nations Social Work Profession	Kinequon, Dexter	2009
Rehearsing with Reality: Exploring Health Issues with Aboriginal Youth through Drama	Goulet, Linda Episkenew, Jo-Ann Linds, Warren Arnason, Karen	2009
Review of Child and Youth Advocacy in Alberta	Alberta Child and Youth Advocacy Review Committee.	2009
Voices of Passion, Voices of Hope	McKay, Sharon	2009
A Management Review of the Alberta Child Welfare System	Crabtree, Cathy R.	2008
Alberta Foster Care Review Report 2008	Alberta Ministry of Children’s Services	2008
Alberta incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect (AIS-2003): Rates of child maltreatment	MacLaurin, Bruce Trocmé, Nico Fallon, Barbara McCormack, Megan Pitman, Lisa	2008
Alberta incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect (AIS-2003): Service dispositions for substantiated child maltreatment	MacLaurin, Bruce Trocmé, Nico Fallon, Barbara Pitman, Lisa McCormack, Megan	2008

Legislation

Links