Alberta Health has announced a two year $4.9 million grant for projects within Alberta that will help enhance Indigenous community-based mental health and wellness supports and services, called the Indigenous Addiction and Mental Wellness grant.
This Indigenous Addiction and Mental Wellness grant is:
- focused on Indigenous peoples, no matter where they live in the province.
- open to applications from First Nations (on reserve), Métis Settlements, the Métis Nation of Alberta, Inuit-led organizations, and rural and urban Indigenous-led and operated organizations that wish to address gaps in mental health and addiction supports in their communities.
- aiming to increase capacity within Indigenous communities and organizations, with $1 million annually dedicated to opioid response projects to support Indigenous models for addressing the opioid crisis, and $1.45 million annually to support the design and implementation of recovery oriented, culturally rooted mental health and wellness services.
The IAMW grant program will initially provide successful applicants up to $200,000 in funding over 24 months (up to March 31, 2025). Objectives of the IAMW are:
- to provide Indigenous communities/organizations with project support and funding to establish a sustainable community-led project that seeks to address mental wellness and addiction among Indigenous populations.
- to provide opportunities to support and enhance existing community-led addiction and mental wellness programs and recovery-oriented practices.
- to support community opioid and addiction responses
- to encourage collaboration and partnerships among Indigenous organizations to co-design projects that fit within a holistic and recovery-oriented continuum of care in order to:
- inform leading practices that have potential to leverage ongoing funding;
- build upon findings for future addiction and mental wellness initiatives.
- serve people in First Nations, Métis Settlements, and Indigenous people living in urban or rural municipalities.
The Expression of Interest is now closed and applications are no longer being accepted. For more information, please email
IndigenousAMHContinuum@ahs.ca.