To help cover extra costs families faced while schools were closed, Alberta’s government introduced the Parent Payment Program. This non-taxable support is for families with children aged 12 and under that attend a public, Catholic or francophone school affected by the strike. Families with children aged 17 and under who have active Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) agreements also qualify for additional support.

Parents and guardians who applied for the program on or before Oct. 27 will start to receive their payments by e-transfer on Oct. 31. These payments provide $30 per child per school day for the length of the Oct. 6-28 teacher strike. Eligible families with active FSCD agreements will receive $60 per child for the same dates.

For families that applied to the program after Oct. 28, another batch of payments will start going out on Nov. 30. The Parent Payment Program portal remains open, and families can apply until Nov. 14.

Receiving your parent payments

To protect yourself from scams impersonating the Government of Alberta, do not accept an e-transfer if you did not apply for a payment through the Parent Payment Program portal.

All parent payments will be sent by e-transfer using the email address associated with your Alberta.ca account. If you have auto-deposit, the payment will be automatically deposited. If you do not have auto-deposit set up, you will have 10 days to manually accept your payment. If the e-transfer is not accepted within 10 days, it will be cancelled and reissued on Nov. 30.

If you applied before Oct. 27 and do not receive an e-transfer by Nov. 3, check your spam folder or log in to your Alberta.ca account to confirm the status of your payment. An application confirmation number will be needed to manually accept your e-transfer. If you do not remember this number, please check the application confirmation page in your Alberta.ca account.

The security question password can be found on an individual’s YourAlberta Parent Payment Program application under application summary.

The Application Reference Number will be in the form of XXXX-XXXX and must be entered as shown, including dashes, and is case sensitive. Do not copy and paste. 

Parents who are entitled to additional funding but have not yet received it will be included in a future payment run. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Parent Payment Program, the following criteria must be met:

  • You must be the parent/guardian of a child aged 12 or under.
  • Your child must be enrolled in a public, Catholic or francophone school impacted by the teacher strike.
  • You and your child must be Alberta residents.

To be eligible for the additional support available to families of children with complex care needs, the following additional criteria must be met:

  • You must be the parent/guardian of a child aged 17 or under with an active FSCD agreement.

Parent applications will be reviewed and validated to ensure eligibility criteria are met. Only one parent/guardian per child is eligible for the Parent Payment Program. The parent/guardian who applies must have the same mailing address that is in the child’s student profile.

How to apply

Applications are still open and will be accepted until Nov. 14.

To apply, the addresses on your alberta.ca account and on your child's student file must match exactly. Any difference in street name or numbers, abbreviations, postal code, etc. will result in an error message. Please confirm the addresses on file match.

  • If you need to update your child’s student file, please contact your school or school board.
  • You can update the address associated with your Alberta.ca account by visiting a registry office (this address must match what appears on your driver’s license or Alberta ID).

If you have questions about the program or encounter any issues when applying online, please call 310-1000 for support.

Quick facts

  • Families will receive $30 per eligible child, for each instructional day missed due to the strike, for a total of $480 per child.
  • Families with children who have an active FSCD agreement will receive $60 per eligible child, for each instructional day missed due to the teacher strike, for a total of $960 per child.
  • The parent payments are considered non-taxable income and are available to parents or guardians of all eligible children, regardless of household income.
  • These payments are intended to help parents impacted by the teacher strike and do not have to be paid back.
  • These financial supports are not new funding. They are funds redirected from teacher salaries that were not paid during the strike.
  • As of Oct. 29, 222,444 parents and guardians (with total of 280,605 children) have applied for parent payments. Of these, 183,719 are expected to receive payments on Oct. 31.

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