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	Percent
Maltreatment Investigation	22,761	35.02	84%
Risk Investigation	4,386	5.66	16%

Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Alberta, 2008²
Category of Maltreatment	Number	Rate per 1,000 children	Percent
Physical Abuse	1,933	2.49	13%
Sexual Abuse	285	0.37	2%
Neglect	5,328	6.87	37%
Emotional Maltreatment	1,974	2.55	14%
Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence	4,883	6.30	34%

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 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.

Reference List

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

Reports

Title	Year
Child Intervention Information and Statistics Summary Child Intervention Information and Statistics – 2021-22 Third Quarter (December) Update.	2022
Mandatory Review into Child Deaths	2021
Indigenous Cultural Understanding Framework (ICUF)	2021
14-Year-Old Lee Serious Injury: An Investigative Review	2018
19-Year-Old Dakota: An Investigative Review	2018
CYDL Data Byte: An insight into child intervention clients’ mental health	2018
17-Year-Old Susan: An Investigative Review	2018
15-Year-Old Levi: An Investigative Review	2017
18-Year-Old Peter: An Investigative Review	2017
A profile of adult corrections involvement	2017
A profile of child support services dependents in Alberta	2017
A profile of children and youth whose families received family support for children with disabilities services	2017
A profile of children in Alberta receiving child care subsidy	2017
A profile of income support learners clients	2017
A profile of young Albertans	2017

Legislation

Links