The government of Alberta has granted funding of $10.5 million to improve mental services at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and the University of Lethbridge, $3 million each and $1.5 million to the Alberta Students’ Executive Council.
“Mental health is a growing issue among Canadians of all ages, not just people in post-secondary, so I think any funding towards that cause specifically is going to be put to great use,” Hardave Birk, president of the University of Calgary’s student union, said.
“Students do face a lot of stress and anything that can help improve our wellness and health services here on campus is unbelievable as well,” he said.
Birk explained that the University of Calgary has doctors, massage therapists, and counselling services in place to aid students with their mental wellness. They also have a number of student-run outreach programs.
Athabasca University (AU), which was not included in the government’s funding initiative, finds itself hard-pressed to provide adequate services to students.
According to Amanda Nielsen, president of the Athabasca University Graduate Students’ Association, the university’s large numbers make it especially difficult for the current staff to cope.
“Our institution has about 40,000 undergraduate students, and 4,000 graduate students. To support this population we have less than five counsellors,” Nielsen said via email.
“Athabasca University actually has more students in Alberta than the University of Lethbridge (14,000 compared to the University of Lethbridge’s 9,300),” she said.
“Providing funding to [Lethbridge] while leaving Athabasca out of the initiative doesn’t make sense. I’ve had graduate students contact me on Facebook this year desperate for help, and unsure where to look.”
Athabasca plans to expand and improve their mental health services should they receive funding.
“We would like to see AU receive funding so that our university will have the resources necessary to run online webinars on mental health issues, and so that counsellors are available in a timely manner for individual students via phone, email, and one-on-one web conference,” she said.
Accessibility and efficiency are both issues the University of Calgary plans to address through their funding.
“One of the things that the money will be doing that I think will be really positive is it will be helping to create a triage desk, so when people come in with a mental issue or a health issue and they’re seeking some sort of help there will actually be people there to point them in the right direction,” Birk said.
“I think that’s it’s a really positive step in the right direction, because a lot of students [are] just not sure which resources they should be trying to access if they are in need.”
