Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton pauses new clients for counselling, other services due to government cuts

The Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE) says “significant and unexpected” funding cuts from the provincial government is having an immediate impact on services.

SACE says it is being forced to pause intakes for several clinical services – including child, youth and adult counselling – effective Monday.

Other affected services include: Adult Survivors Healing from Abuse (ASHA), Men’s Group, Sexual Assault Survivors Support (SASS), Sitting in Solidarity, refleQT, Skills for Change, and Who I Am Now: Trauma & Healing in Adolescence.

“It’s devastating,” said CEO Mary Jane James. “It’s unsettling, it’s humiliating, and it’s just very, very sad.”

Services are expected to continue as scheduled for current clients, anyone on a waitlist for services, or someone with an intake already booked.

“We are deeply disheartened by the reality we are facing as an agency and understand that this news may land heavily for our community,” SACE wrote in a news release.

Sexual assault survivor Neil Campbell says he was shocked to learn the centre that helped him will be turning away new clients — and adds it will come at a huge cost.

“We are gonna lose some of those people,” Campbell said. “They will commit suicide. That’s the reality of it. For myself, I was in that situation when I tried to get in into SACE. It’s very heartbreaking that the government doesn’t recognize that this will affect lives.

“I know from personal experience how difficult it is to reach for help in the first place and then to find the courage to do that and then be told you have to wait up to 18 months.”

SACE says it takes about 23 new clients a week. “These are individuals who were sexually violated in the most egregious way, many of whom they can’t afford private therapy,” said James.

The sexual assault centre says SOLACE (Space Of Learning And Cultural Equity) and Wîwîp’son Healing from Sexual Trauma Circle for Indigenous Women are still running.

The Alberta government told CityNews it recognizes the role that sexual assault centres have in supporting survivors by providing them a safe place to turn to. 

“Budget 2025, if passed, invests more than $88 million for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence which includes $15.3 million, an increase of $1.5 million, for Sexual Assault Centres across the province.”

The province adds SACE receives nearly $2.1 million in operational funding from the Ministry of Children and Family Services, which it says has not decreased.

“Alberta’s government continues to be on track to meet our mandate commitment to invest $10 million over 4 years for Sexual Assault Centres. We will continue to work with sexual assault centres, child advocacy centres and sexual violence agencies to ensure this funding goes where it is needed most.”

But SACE’s CEO says while the base funding is the same, the organization lost a grant meant to reduce their 18-month waitlist. The province had previously assured the non-profit that a $1.8 million-grant over two years would be renewed, but that didn’t happen in budget 2025.

“We finally, with that 1.8 million, we were able to have an even balance – capacity equalling, give or take, demand,” said James. “We are going to fluctuate back up. I don’t know whether it will go back to 18 months. I hope not.”

Without the grant, SACE says it’s had to let staff go.

“While I was waiting to get into SACE, I did go see a psychiatrist that helped me navigate the wait time,” added Campbell. “All I can hope is that they can hang on. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Alberta NDP called the province’s funding cuts “reckless.”

“This cut is more than just a number on a budget sheet – it’s a direct attack on the safety and dignity of survivors,” said Julia Hayter, the NDP’s shadow minister for the status of women. “The UCP’s mismanagement and failure to prioritize the well-being of Albertans is leaving communities at risk.

“Albertans deserve strong, accessible services that support their safety and healing. Instead, all we’re seeing from this government is cuts, chaos, and corruption.”